The Miracle Swap
by icelight11
Summary: Amu & Ikuto die in an accident. They are then given the chance to be reborn, but at a price: Swapping roles as the lock & key holders & having their old memories erased & replaced with their alternate selves of a different dimension. Full summary inside.
1. Our passing, our chance

**A word from Alex:** Sorry it took so long. I had projects. And… my birthday was on Wednesday. I had a new Pokemon video game to play, a new warrior book to read. :F I slacked off. I said I was considering doing a sequel too "When the snow brought you back," but couldn't think of a way to continue it. I thought up the idea for this story, even before I finished WTSBYB, and I decided that this first chapter will pretty much be a prologue of that, but I'll call it Chapter.1 anyway. I worked really hard on thinking up a creative, different plot for this Amuto story, and I hope you all like it. It's going to be _much_ longer than my last story. There's almost no chance of me getting writers block for this story, because I've already written the outline for each and every chapter, so don't worry about that. c: My laziness, on the other hand, can only be quelled by **reviews**. _I am driven to write by the knowledge that people want to know what will happen next, so keep that in mind the next time to get to the end of a chapter and stare at that green button, deciding whether or not you should review._**  
A note: **You don't need to have read WTSBYB to understand this story, accept for two minor details that will not matter after this first chapter. I won't say what the details are though, since it might be considered a spoiler to my other story.  
So now…

ONWARD!

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Shugo Chara!**_

**Full Summary:** Two years after they come together in Seraph Mountain, Amu and Ikuto are on their way home from Yaya's birthday party, and die in a car accident together. They are given the chance to be reborn into an alternate dimension, but at a price – They must swap lives as the key and lock holders, and have their memories from their old lives erased and replaced with the memories of their other selves from the alternate universe. They take the bodies of their other selves and now their lives have gone through a complete swap – Ikuto is the owner of the humpty lock and the mischievous and swooning joker of the Guardians, Amu is the misunderstood and slightly secretive holder of the dumpty key. But what else is now different in their lives? Will the two be able to survive the new and different trials ahead?

* * *

_The Miracle Swap_

_Chapter 1: Our passing, our chance._

"I can't believe it!"

"You better believe, or else. Do you have any idea how expensive that was? If you don't start believing it right now, then I'll return it."

"… I believe it now."

"Good."

I wasn't quite sure how I ended up here, but here I was, invited too Yaya's 18th birthday party. I really wasn't all that close to the crazy girl, but she insisted that if Amu was coming, then I should too. Who was I too reject such an offer? Amu would have my head if I didn't come, anyway. So I decided I might as well. Why miss out on a chance to party whilst spending time with her?

It was two years after Amu and I had met again in Seraph Mountain. After the avalanche, the hospital, and her recovery, we had started seriously dating, and the time between those years went by quickly, yet flawlessly. Predictable things happened to those around us, like for example, my sister Utau and Kukai, who was now someone I could consider a reasonably close friend, were dating. Utau was still in show business, and Kukai was in college for soccer. The short blond one, Rima, had ended up with the previous cross dresser, Nagihiko, who was aiming for a career professional basket ball, while Rima wanted to be a professional comedian. Oddly, Tadase and Yaya had ended up together in the end, which was something no one could truthfully say they saw coming. Tadase was aiming for something to do with politics, while Yaya… well, to be honest, I have no clue what she was planning on doing since she had just graduated, but if I had to take a guess it would be an "Official Taste Tester" of sweets or the sort, or perhaps a photographer.

As for Amu and I, things couldn't be better. I had passed the 'approval test' of her fathers with a lot of patience persistence, and Ami seemed to take a liking to me, so Midori dubbed me the 'persuasion man', which is a title that I can honestly say I disdain, even if it is true. Amu herself; was as most would say, 'all grown up,' and although was a bit more serious and had a better grasp on things than what I had remembered before, was still lively and slightly sassy. She was attending a cooking academy to get into the cookery business, while I was doing something similar but at the same time, still working on a violin career.

"Still!!" Yaya insisted, smiling down at the box she'd just unwrapped. Everyone was sitting on the carpet in her living room in front of the T.V, her open presents stacked on the end table we surrounded. It was getting late and the party was coming to an end, and now the only thing to do was eat the cake and go home. She seemed like she was in shock – her mouth agape and her eyes that bubbly shade of chocolate brown they always were. Utau had given her a new camera for her birthday, which seemed like a really good idea at the time because Yaya had always been taking pictures on her phone. But it now seemed like _too _good an idea, since she was practically drooling all over the cardboard.

"…Yaya-chan?" Amu chuckled nervously at the dazed pigtails girl, taping her shoulder a bit, "I know you love you're your new camera, but don't you want some cake?"

That woke her up. "CAKE?!" Her head shot up and her eyes turned from a bubbly brown to a shining ray – quite a scary sight indeed. She hopped up and ran off to her kitchen, then came back in a matter of seconds with forks and knives in hand, "I'm _ALWAYS _ready for Amu-chi's cake!" She squealed, "What flavor will it be this time, I wonder…" as Amu got up to go get the cake she'd put in the refrigerator.

I already knew the answer to that. Amu had gotten into the habit of baking everyone a cake for their birthday, each different in their own way. She had made Yaya a chocolate ice cream cake with strawberry chunks this year, and yes, it had been my idea. I normally didn't intervene with Amu's choice of flavor, but this particular time I happened to catch her while she was deciding what kind of cake to bake, and I was craving chocolate at that moment so I was very… persuasive in my suggesting. It wasn't something plausible to be the only person who receives chocolate cake on their birthday, because Amu always reserved that flavor for me, and just this one time I wanted to have it more than once.

Amu returned with the cake box in hand, setting it down on the end table and pulling the top off, revealing her latest masterpiece. And there it was – in all its beauty, the chocolaty chocolateness that was Amu's sweet baking… "_Happy 18th birthday Yaya!" _it read in red cursive letters, with strawberries planted delicately around the round rim of the cake, their green leaves having been cut off and placed around the fruit itself. As she pulled down the other sides of the box, you could see the layers of ice cream and cake separated neatly, and not a single strawberry on the inside was poking out. It was perfect.

"Wow! Amu, you outdid yourself with this one!" Kukai commented in awe as Tadase passed around a stack of plates.

"Aw, it was really nothing…" She said modestly, a slight tinge of pink on her cheeks. That was quite untrue though, as she'd worked quite hard to make the cake come out perfect. She'd made a total of three other cakes before this one, none of which seemed to come out just right.

"No, really Amu-chi!" Yaya insisted, pulling her new camera out of her box, "It's the best looking chocolate cake ever!"

"Indeed it is, desu~" Suu chimed in, landing on Amu's head with a smile; "Amu worked so hard on it, and made the whole thing without my help!"

"S-Suu!"

"But it's true, you can tell! So I'll take a picture of it, and every other cake you bake for anyone else!" Yaya said, snapping a picture of her birthday cake before finally cutting the first piece. After everyone got passed a piece and began eating, watching Yaya eat became kind of unnerving. She had to have vacuumed in her food or something while I wasn't looking in order to finish eating _chocolate _cake before _me _and her guardian character Pepe was no different in her eating habits. I'm not even going to comment on Amu's cake, anyone should know how delicious it was.

Once we'd all finished eating, it was finally time to disperse and go home. I had to drop Amu off at her house before I could get to mine, which was something I didn't mind doing in the least. With Amu and I being the last to leave, we said goodbye to Yaya before stepping off the doorstep and over to our parking spot, the door closing behind us.

"What's so funny?" I asked Amu as we approached the car, her giggles escaping from her as she made an attempt to cover her mouth. She leaned against the car and opened the door slightly, allowing our Guardians to float into its warmth while they waited for us before closing it again.

"It's just that… You eat chocolate like it's going out of style! It's so funny to watch you eat it!" She finally said, clutching her stomach as she laughed. I didn't see what was so funny. Did I really eat chocolate oddly?

"How is the way I eat chocolate different from anyone else?" I asked, raising an eyebrow and stopping next to the car.

"Well, let's take the way you eat ice cream for example. You stick your tongue out completely, taking as much into your mouth as you possibly can with it. Most people just stick the top of the ice cream cone into their mouth and eat it that way because it's faster, but you make it look as though there's a special way of eating it!"

I scoffed. "Lot's of people eat their ice cream that way."

"You're wrong! You're the only person I've seen eat their ice cream in such a way. And the way you eat your cake is rather different too. Instead of just slicing a piece of the cake on your plate with your fork and digging into it, you gawk at it a few seconds like you're admiring art before devouring it at a scary pace!"

"You sure do pay a lot of attention to my ways of eating. Do you take notes too? Or perhaps you take pictures?" I questioned her, turning the tables on this conversation and knowing very well that this would set her off into one of those cute fits of hers.

"T-take notes!? What, are you kidding!? You just eat like such a pig; it's hard not to notice!" She flushed that shade of pink I found so adorable, but she ignored it and put her hands on her hips, trying her best to put on an intimidating frown.

"I think you like it."

"N-no! It's just something I noticed!"

"You like it."

"Pft…" She huffed and averted her eyes, crossing her arms, her frown wavering a little but still slightly intact. That was a 'yes', in my book. Amu was so cute and easy to mess with. She was someone whose personality was something hard not to fall in love with. I smirked, realizing I could spare a few more minutes to mess with her before I had to take her home. As Amu stood there muttering too herself incoherently, I leaned forward a bit and placed my hands on either side of her, leaning them against the car and trapping her. She continued to sputter nonsense, no longer directed too herself but at me, her face lighting up with a blush that matched her bubblegum pink hair as her golden honey colored orbs focused into my intent amethyst ones. I hushed her with a kiss before pulling her in tightly, and she did the odd little stiffening spell thing she always did for a split second before relaxing a bit. Amu always did this stiffening thing when we kissed, and the only time she hadn't done so was when she had woken up in the hospital that one day, probably too dazed to realize what was going on at the time. But with every time we did so, her slight rigidness would stop sooner than the last. I'd like to think I'd break her habit eventually.

_***HONK***_

We broke our short kiss abruptly as Amu leaped into the air squealing in fright, startled at the sudden noise coming from the car. We gave an incredulous look into the window of the car to see Ran and Yoru at the wheel, smiling devilish one. Yoru was laughing uncontrollably, and Miki had a small grin on her face. Suu had the same calm, smiley expression she normally did, and Dia didn't seem to find it all very funny, because she was frowning.

"What was that for!?" Amu erupted, infuriated by the sudden startle.

"You're dad called just now!" Miki said, holding up Amu's phone with both hands. Amu's expression changed from a volcanic irritated face, to a slightly panicked one.

"Yeah, I answered for you and said you were too busy making out with your boyfriend to answer, and that he should try calling back later when you where finished!" Ran informed us cheerfully, shaking her pompoms around.

"Y-y-y-you did what!?"

"He said he wanted you home immediately!" Miki finished, setting the phone back down on the dashboard with the help of Suu. Amu gave a small gasp before hopping into the car, yelling me to hurry up and drive. I bit my lip as I rounded to the driver's seat, trying to resist the urge to laugh. It was so obvious they were lying, but it was so funny to see Amu get so panicky over the imaginary situation.

"What are you smiling about!? This is mostly your fault, ya pervert! Take me home before I get a longer speech than I'd planned from Papa!" Her anger was clouding her commonsense. How delectable of her. And how was _I _a pervert? She hadn't even protested once!

It was getting too difficult to suppress my laughter much longer, so I just nodded, fearing that if I opened my mouth, I'd be unable to help myself. I pushed the keys in and started the car, ready to start the ten minute drive back. Ran, Miki, and Yoru were giggling in the back seat of the car, their hands muffling their amusement.

"This isn't funny! I'll be grounded for _life_! I'm too old for this!"

"Amu, you're only twenty." Dia pointed out.

"Exacly! I'm too old to be grounded! But I'm sure my father will find some way too do so…" She continued blathering on for about three minutes about how much trouble she'd be in until Ran finally broke the news her.

"Amu, we were just kidding! It's not like your father can hear us over the phone anyway! No one can hear us if they can't see charas, remembeeeer? We were just getting tired of waiting, so we… Amu-chan?"

There was silence. Then some yelling, followed by the strangling of three very unlucky guardians, and a burst of my own laughter amongst the sound of their suffocation. And then more silence, perhaps some twitching.

"You're quite gullible." I commented after she had finished her little fit, silently cursing at the car behind us that was riding our tail.

"Papa is not a force to be reckoned with." She replied curtly, looking out the window.

"As we know," I agreed, remembering the first time Amu had introduced me too him as her 'boyfriend'. It was the week after she was released from the hospital two years ago, and she'd been waiting for me near the front door on a crutch when I came to visit her. I found it strange that she'd be waiting near the front door instead of the balcony, but went along with it until I saw a look of guilt on her face. Upon asking her what was wrong, she interrupted me and just said she was sorry before pushing open the door, motioning for me to follow. She led me to the kitchen where her parents were taking pictures of her little sister Ami, and the first thing I got upon entering was a suspicious glare from her father. Her mother was quite unfazed, as I assumed she already knew about 'us'.

"_Guys…" _She had begun, before spilling out our current status to her family. There was a short silence as Midori just smiled, taking a few quiet steps toward her husband before he had his emotional breakdown. I'm not even going too describe the moment after, because I made a silent oath to myself that what happened that day with her father. Let's just say he needed a lot of tissue refills after he 'ran away from home'… in his bathroom.

Her mother was cool about it though, and simply gave us the 'Use protection, don't drink and drive ext' speech before Ami suddenly remembered I was the owner of the 'great kitty guardian' for so many years ago, and well, after that, the rest was history.

After the comfortable silence between us went on for more than a minute, Amu said, "That party was really fun."

"My favorite part was the cake, personally." I commented nonchalantly, turning right on the road we were on towards an intersection.

"Ooooh, I couldn't tell," she replied sarcastically, a smile slowly making its way across her lips as she continued starring out the window, probably day dreaming. I smiled, but said nothing as I focused on the road. The traffic light turned red and we came to a stop, a large load of cars making their way across the junction. It was always like this when I came through this particular intersection, because one of the lights always stayed red too long and caused a large amount of cars to build up. It also had a history of turning from green on one side and red on the other rather quickly. '_Someone really needs too fix the timing on those things,' _would be my last thought before our light turned green, before I heard Amu shriek for me to look out, and before a car that probably thought it could make the yellow light sped up before it turned red and realized that had terribly miscalculated that probability.

I couldn't react quickly enough and it hit my side of the car with so much force that our car was pushed in the opposite direction far enough to hit a thick, sturdy nearby pole that was downhill of a fairly steep slope. Apparently something was wrong with the guy's breaks, because his car continued to push us forward into the pole, our car slowly bending inward, trapping us on the inside. We were now facing the wall of a building, so I tried to get the car to go in reverse, but something trapped the tires from moving in that direction. I unbuckled my seat belt, and turned to Amu – and it was then I noticed that she had been knocked unconscious from the collision. I attempted to get her out, but realized it was a too late to escape – our car couldn't withstand the weight of the other, and so, the opposing party's car went crashing forward. There was a sickening crunching noise and the guardians screamed in horror as the sound of something in me snapping echoed through my mind – but I would never know what happened after that. It was already too late. For both of us.

~ `Nya. ~

"_Ikuto, please wake up… can't you hear me?"_

It was dark, but not damp. It was almost cold, and yet it wasn't, but at the same time, it wasn't warm or hot either. So then what was it? Or better yet, what was I? I had been Ikuto what seemed like a few minutes ago, but now I felt empty. A lot of things where missing. For one, the need to breathe had vanished, and that in itself was something worth worrying about. Was this what happened when you died? You're put in a dark place, alone, without the ability to see or breathe?

"_Ikuto… this isn't funny."_

Perhaps I'd turned into a ghost or something, because this certainly wasn't heaven, since there was nothing here. It couldn't be hell either, wasn't that place supposed to be boiling over with lava? I paused in my erratic thoughts for a moment, realizing a critical detail.

I had just died.

In a **car accident**…

With **Amu**.

"_Ikuto! You can't just leave me here alone! IKUTO!!"_

My eyes shot open at the sound of her voice, but when I awoke, I discovered that everything would have been the same even if I hadn't awakened. Amu was not here. Had I only imagined her voice? But it had sounded so real…

I glanced around, and still, everything was the same. I was still in a dark space with no temperature, and my need to breathe was still gone. I felt my heart sink.

So this was what death was like? Being stuck in a black void of… nothingness? I personally always hoped that there was some form of heaven to go to once we died, so this was coming as quite a shock to me. I wondered: Would I remain here for eternity? Eternity was hard to imagine… no, it was impossible to imagine. I was only human after all, not immortal. I couldn't comprehend the long, endless road ahead of me stuck in an eternal darkness. It was, dare I say it, even scary to imagine.

Where was Amu right now, I wondered? Did she wind up in a similar place as I? And if so, was she thinking the same things I was? Or perhaps she'd made it to a happier place than this. The second option was more favorable, if I had too spend forever in some dark and drab place, I wouldn't wish it on Amu either. Still, the thought of being alone for so long was unsettling. How would I survive without someone's company? I'd even enjoy having Yoru around…

That's when I realized something – Yoru wasn't here either. Had he died in the car crash as well? Was it even possible for a Shugo Chara to die? Or perhaps they vanished once their owners did. Either way, it was stressing me out, and if I was getting stressed out this early into my eternal darkness, then I didn't want to imagine how I would be later.

At the thought of vanishing company, I realized that my own company had vanished from the world of the living. I was gone now, and I had left Utau alone, without an older brother… whatever emotion of sadness she must have been feeling at the time was impossible for me to even imagine, because it would be worse on her end. She was still living, and would have to live her life without me, or Amu for that matter.

Amu as probably having the same thoughts as I, but for Ami. I knew how much Ami meant to her, and to leave her alone without an older sister was probably devastating for her. Now, more than ever, I wanted to be there to comfort her. But I had no idea where she could be…

I sighed, and glanced around again. Not only was being stuck here rather unsettling, it was boring too. There wasn't anything to do. I stood up and took a few steps forward, the sound of my shoes clanking against the floor, echoing, somehow.

"_HEY! _What the – get your butt back over here Ikuto!" I practically toppled over my own feet at the sudden outburst of sound. I turned around and saw something… almost unpleasant. I say unpleasant because it reminded me of a combination of Tadase and Kiseki in one.

The person approaching me was a small child, his hair a golden brown and his eyes where the same shade as Amu's. He had a very large crown on his head, one that resembled the crown atop Tadase's platinum royal scepter, and he was dressed in some sort of medieval royal outfit, similar to Kiseki's but more... ornamental. He was glaring at me with an irritated expression as he stomped over to me, his oversized cape dragging behind him.

"Stop moving, darn it! You adults are so hard to keep up with, with your freakishly long legs…" I smirked a little. Okay, the kid was kind of cute. He kind of reminded me of Tadase when he was a little kid. Tadase hadn't been the one to like being left behind or sped passed either.

"AHEM!" He said suddenly, causing me to give him some sort of skeptical look. I wasn't going to complain about his oddness though; it was nice simply not being alone, although he was a stranger.

"Let's get this over with," he began, looking up at me with a critical expression, "You're Ikuto Tsukiyomi." It wasn't a question. I frowned as he stated the obvious.

"And just how do you know that?" I asked.

"Because I know everything about you and Amu-chan!" He had my full on attention now.

"Amu? You know her? Where is she?"

"SHUT AP!" He demanded, stomping his foot on the ground. "I'll get to that in a second! Sheesh…" He snapped his fingers once, and a royal chair suddenly appeared. It illogically floated as the little boy climbed up on it, making it float at my eye level.

"That's much better!" He smiled as he got comfortable in his new seat.

"How… how is that even possible?" I couldn't help but ask, it wasn't every day that someone could poof up a chair, let alone make it float.

"YOU MORTALS!" I almost flinched at his second screech of the day. "Stop asking such stupid questions, just listen!"

"Then start talking!"

"Maybe I will!" He spat his tongue out before finally beginning his explanation. "Okay, so you're Ikuto Tsukiyomi, the owner of the dumpty key. Amu hinamori is the owner of the humpty lock, which makes you two connected."

'_Tell me something I don't know.'_

"The reason you're here is because I'm giving you and Amu a second chance at life." I would have asked him how he planned on doing that, since both of our bodies had been crushed by the car, but I stopped myself because I knew that he would just complain about asking questions. "As the dumpty key and humpty lock holders, you two have something most other people do not have. In most cases, when a person dies, they immediately go to their designated places that they deserve – heaven or hell. After that, a lot of things can happen, if the person goes to heaven they can remain there, or they can be reborn and start another life as a different person. But a few select people get the chance to be reborn as their old selves. Well, not really 'old selves' per say, but a version of themselves that has been preserved in an alternate dimension specifically for them when they die."

"You've lost me." I said blatantly, not understanding where the whole dimension thing came from.

He sighed before continuing. "There are two different dimensions. The one you where living in before the car crash, and a different one where there is another version of you that is still alive. I'm giving you and Amu the chance to live as that other version of you, because the only reason the other version of you even exists is for the sole purpose of you to one day be reborn into that dimension." I nodded, and he continued. "In this other dimension, your other self is currently living as how we at the Shugo Chara council predict you might, and -"

"Wait, wait, wait," I had to stop him there; he wasn't making any sense again. "A 'Shugo Chara council'?"

"_Yes_, Ikuto, a Shugo Chara council! I am the king of this council, and I make the decisions regarding anyone owning a guardian character! Now let me continue!" I couldn't understand how such an annoying brat could be the king of such a council, but I didn't ask anymore questions, I just nodded and let him continue.

"We at the Shugo Chara council give your alternate self the exact same personality, likes, and dislikes as you. This is so that when you incarnate into that body, no one will think your behavior is strange. Another thing to mention, is that everyone from your dimension has an alternate self, with the same personality, likes and dislikes, just with different circumstances. Which brings us too our next subject." He paused and took a break from talking for a moment.

"Although the person you will become will technically be exactly the same as you, your life's circumstances will not. You family might be different, you may or may not be working with Easter, and you may or may not have awakened your would-be self yet. I'm not allowed to give you certain details, but what I can tell you is that your life isn't as screwed up as it was before. Not as much, at least.

I paused to digest all of this information – it seemed like it was worth it to me. Another chance to live? Who would pass that up?

"So, Amu was given the same options I have?"

"Yes, and she's already agreed to go through with it if you agree too. Although, before you say anything, I need to explain the rules to you."

"Rules…?"

"Yes, _rules_. You know, like regulations?" he didn't wait for my reply and went on to explain these 'rules'. "The first regulation will be this – You and Amu will switch places as the lock and key holders. Meaning, you will be the new owner of the lock, and she will be the owner of the key." I nodded. That seemed rather unnecessary, but at the same time, I didn't really care. It seemed like a trivial change.

"The second regulation will be that your guardian characters will remain intact. Meaning, you will still get Yoru, and Amu will still get Ran, Miki, Dia And Su. Although both of you are still susceptible to more Charas depending on the circumstances of your new goals in life. The third regulation is that everyone will be reverted back to teenagers, and the ages of you or your friends will be modified."

"Wait, so we'll still have the same friends, and know the same people?"

"More or less," came his reply, "Your bond with certain people might vary, but you will still _know _the important people in your previous life. For example, Utau is still your sister, and Kukai is still your friend." I frowned. Would she have that brother complex again? I had only just begun to enjoy my time without it.

"The fourth rule is that this will be permanent a permanent exchange, and you can't change your mind after you've made the choice to do this. Also, if you die again, you will not get another chance. There are only two dimensions, so we can't offer you any more than one rebirth. And the last rule is the most important rule of all, although I'm sure you won't like it…" I felt my stomach twist a bit. I had a bad feeling it was seriously going to be something I hated.

"The fifth and final rule is, your memories from your past life will be erased, and then they will be replaced with the memories of your new self. This is too make sure you don't have an advantage over any of the other lives in that dimension, and not to cause havoc."

Yeah, I didn't like that idea too much.

I narrowed my eyes. "What do you mean?"

The king continued to hold his bored expression as he answered me, staring at his nails and acting as though the situation was a normal one. "Well, this is the way it must be. I can't have you remembering everything from before; it's not fair to the other humans in that dimension. Besides, Amu has already made her choice. She wants to be reborn into her other self of the other dimension because she knows that it will give her the chance to see everyone again. That, and you as well, but only if you agree."

"It won't be the same," I protested, "Tadase, Utau, Kukai... they wouldn't be the same ones we knew before. Wouldn't they not?"

"No." He sounded rather annoyed at this reply. "They are almost exactly the same as the ones you know. The only differences are the circumstances of their life, their ages, and their memories. Their personality, likes, and dislikes would all be the same."

"That in itself makes it very different."

"Will it even matter? Your memories are going to be erased and replaced anyway, it's not like you'd know the difference. You won't remember you past life, you won't remember dying, and you won't remember meeting me. So even if _you _think that things won't be the same now, you will certainly change your mind once you become your other self. You'll have no choice but too, because you won't know any better." He paused, scratching his golden hair before continuing.

"Besides, would you really want Amu-Chan to wind up with your other self of which you have no control over? The only reason she's agreed to this is because she thought she could spend time with you, specifically, and everyone else. Since you are both the destined holders of the lock and key, you will always be together. If you don't transfer to the new body I've prepared for you, then it will live on, with or without your help, and eventually follow the path that _you_ were meant to follow as the humpty lock holder, thereby becoming the one who was destined to be with Amu. It will become a whole different person in itself. Meaning, someone else will wind up with Amu. And when that happens, you will no longer be the one for Amu. Your little clone will."

That particular tidbit of information irked me. Okay, so it didn't just irk me, it practically changed my mind in a second. There was no way some _clone _could have Amu!

"So, Ikuto," he went on, "Will you take the body of your alternate self and take this chance that I'm giving you to live again, or will you remain here until then next time Amu dies, only to reunite with her when she's taken?"

I ran my fingers through my hair as I sighed. Why was I even trusting this guy? He was just some random guy that came up out of no where and gave me an offer that sounded nice, but could possibly be some sort of lie.

"Fine, I'll agree. But on one condition." The little boy looked at me quizzically. I was sure he was thinking, _'What could he possibly want?'_

"Prove to me that you're not lying, and that you're really who you say you are, and I'll go through with it."

"Hauh?" His expression turned to a rather flabbergasted one. "Are you serious?"

I nodded. The offer sounded great, despite the memory part, and it would give me the chance to be with everyone again. But I wouldn't take it if it was some sort of trick.

"Okay then," he snapped his fingers again, and there was a sudden mist of smoke, and the darkness around us turned into… something of a street. No, not just a street. I was in the neighborhood that I used to live in before I died. But it was different somehow. I couldn't quite place my finger on it but…

"Funny thing is, Amu told me to prove it as well. I suppose you two think alike in that way." He said as he hopped off his chair. It disappeared in a poof of smoke and he beckoned me with a hand to follow him towards a house. As I followed him, I came to realize that it was my own house. But something was different somehow. I couldn't quite place my finger on it, and yet…

"Funny thing is, Amu told me to prove it as well. I suppose you two think alike in that way." He said as he hopped off his chair. It disappeared in a poof of smoke and he beckoned me with a hand to follow him towards a house. As I followed him, I came to realized that it was my own house. But something was _way _off with it.

"What's with the –"

"Don't ask questions. Just follow me." He took a great leap up to a balcony – a balcony? My house never had one of those. I followed him, surprised by my sudden boost in my agile abilities without Yoru's help, and stopped once I finally hit the balcony. The Shugo Chara King simply walked through the glass door of the balcony, and I couldn't understand why I was so surprised. Stranger things had happened lately. I did the same and walked through the glass, to discover one of the oddest things I'd seen in quite awhile.

The room was a fair size, with a blue scheme. There was a computer on one side of a queen sized bed, and a cat scratching post on the other. In front of the bed was a large chest, filled with who knows what, and next to that was a dresser. I also noticed that on the ceiling, there was a square opening that probably led to the attic.

But the weird thing was the person sleeping _in _the bed. He looked young, around a teens age, and a few strands of is cobalt blue hair covered his face. His skin was a very light tan…

Yep, it was me.

"This is the alternate you, Ikuto!" The king proclaimed almost proudly. "See? No difference. You look exactly the same!"

I just stood there quietly, still a bit surprised that he'd gotten it down so well. He must've taken my silence as defiance, because he then offered -

"If this isn't enough proof, I could show you Utau and a few other people too!"

I snapped out of my state of surprise – "No, I suppose this is more than enough…"

"Oh, goody!" A large smile made its way across his face and he clasped his hands together, "Amu-chan is going to be so happy! So this means that you'll start your life anew?"

I nodded a numbly, not quite sure how I should feel. Excited? Perhaps. But then, I was also going to forget all my previous memories…

"Also, about your memories," mind reader much, "We'll only be extracting them from you for the time being. When you die again, we'll give them back to you." I frowned. How negative. 'When you die again...' couldn't he make it sound happier!? Then again, I was already dead, so did it really matter?

"Alright then, I'm going to begin the process for both of you simultaneously. Amu's already at her new body, so she's just waiting for me to begin. Ready?" I nodded, and he began the 'process'.

He disappeared, and I was left in the room alone with my new self. After a few minutes of silence, he somehow tuned into my head.

"_Okay, to start the process, you first need to step into your new bodies."_

"_And just how am I supposed to do that?" _Came my thought reply.

"_It's like in the movies!" _After hesaid that, this was starting to feel really lame._ "You're pretty much in a spirit form right now, so you can pass through anything. But if you try and pass through your new body, then you'll get sucked into it instead. After that happens, I'll immediately replace your memories, and then you're new life begins!"_

"Alright then…" I muttered aloud, stepping towards what would soon become me. I slowly moved my finger towards its head, and the moment I did so, I felt myself getting sucked into the body. I shrunk a little to fit its proportions, and my spirit soon replaced the empty shell that used to be just an empty body. The moment it was over, I then had full control of the body and sat up in the bed, then stepped out and stretched. It was rather nice to be alive again… although I was having trouble remembering to breathe, since I didn't need to before.

"_Okay Ikuto, I'm replacing your memories now!"_

The instant he said that, my minds eye became warped and swirly as my memories and thoughts felt as though they were being dragged into a vortex that had opened in an unexplainable place in my head. As my previous thoughts and memories left my mind, the new ones flowed in simultaneously, and once the whole process was over, I collapsed on the carpet of my new room.

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**Alex's notes:** Hoo, shorter than my usual chapters.

I personally didn't like the way this chapter was written, nor did I like writing it. I just wanted to get it over with, because it's only purpose was to explain why Amu and Ikuto are being transferred to a different "dimension". It will have nothing to do with the later chapters, and I'll tell you all right now, the king will not make a second appearance. xD I can promise you this though: The story will be much more interesting once we get to chapter three! The next chapter won't be nearly as boring as this one though. Trust me, the story gets interesting. Or at least I think so! :O

I felt as though Ikuto was a bit OOC in this chapter, but I suppose it won't matter. Also, you'll see what Ikuto meant by his house looking 'different' in the next chapter. I didn't want to give too much away.

Anyway, yeah so, I've already planned all of the chappies. So, I have much less chance of writers block now. This story will be told in Ikuto's POV throughout almost the entire story, so I hope you all enjoy that. We all like peering into his perverted little mind. :3

I'll start writing the chapter as soon as I feel like that, and who knows when that'll be? :P

Please review, because with each review comes another reason for me to write, and with each reason to write, the desire to write is increased as well!

Tata guys~ Great, now I have to go code the deviant art version of this... wooptie doo. :[ I don't feel like it, lol.


	2. Initiate the swap!

**Alex's notes:** Woot, new chapter. This'll be more interesting than the last, I hope. Still, it's nothing compared to what I have prepared. After I finished the last chapter, I finally had the _desire _to write and it wasn't forced like in chapter one, so I was able to get this chapter done swiftly! I enjoyed writing it.

So yeah, not much to say, accept please** enjoy**, and **R&R!**

Oh, and, when you're imagining Ikuto and Utau's uniform, just imagine Ikuto's as his old one. My thoughts on not changing it are this: Why change what's already sexy? :P Just imagine the girls school uniform with the same jacket, but instead with a skirt and pink outlining. Simple, no? (If your having trouble, think of something similar to Ducks school uniform from Princess Tutu, but with a different color scheme! That's how I imagined it.)

**Disclaimer: I do not own Shugo Chara! Peach-pit does.**

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_The Miracle Swap_

_Chapter 2: Initiate the swap!_

There was a woman dressed in red. Her facial features shrouded in darkness, but her smile could still be seen, devilish and malevolent looking. Her arm ascended in the air, and a silver spinning musical note appeared above it. She threw it too the floor and began to laugh menially as it shattered, it's shards scattering across the hard floorboard of the dark, blank room.

She then took a few steps forward until she reached me, suddenly raising her leg to jut it into my abdomen. I fell back as she screamed:

"Wake up, you useless oaf!"

Wait… wasn't that Utau's voice?

"Ikuto, wake up, darn it!" There came that kicking feeling again. "How many times must I kick you before you wake up!? I can do this all morning if you want." I opened my eyes slowly and glanced around. For some odd reason, I was facing the legs of my bed. I moved my hand a little and it slid across the carpet of my room – why was I on the floor? I could have sworn I went to sleep _on _my bed last night.

"Ikuto."

I glanced up to see my fraternal twin sister, Utau, sitting off the side of my bed, her amethyst eyes staring at me with a serious expression as her legs dangling from the sides: the perfect position for kicking a person who was sleeping innocently next to his own bed.

"…What."

"You're going to make me late for the first day of school! You have forty minutes to get ready, so hurry up! I was supposed to meet Kotone at the school gate this morning to see if we have the same classes together and you're holding me up!"

"…Oh."

"Don't just 'oh' me! Do you have any idea _why _this is so important!? We're going to be juniors this year! _Upperclassmen_!"

"Uh-huh," I replied, pretending to listen to her constant chattering as I stood up and started toward my closet door. Did she really think I cared about being an upperclassman when we were already being treated as such?

"Well, anyway, there's still a good hour before school starts so hurry! I want to meet Kotone before then!" She hopped off the bed and started toward my door.

"Mmm…" came my respond as I opened my closet and pulled out my school uniform – a simple black jacket with silver outlines, with a black shirt and pair of pants with blue outlining. " Maybe I should iron this…"

"You're not even listening!" She was only just realizing this? What a slow sister I had.

"School. Kotone. Forty minutes. Yeah."

"Hmph…" Without another word, she left my room in somewhat of a huff. I smirked at my accomplishment as I pulled some towels out of my dresser and stepped out my door, rushing toward the bathroom to take a quick shower. Although I had pretended to ignore Utau as she spoke, I wasn't a jerk and wouldn't make her late on our first day of the new school year, which seemed oh so important to her.

As I waited for the water to heat up, I took the liberty of feeding Lieu, my cat. He let out a purr when he saw me approach him with a bowl full of food in one hand, and I couldn't help but laugh at his excitement. He was going to become fat one day if he continued eating at the pace he was now.

After taking a shower, I dashed down the stairs and slowed too a cool pace once I'd reached the bottom, grabbing an apple off the counter before making my way toward the hallway which led to the door that led to my parents bakery. My parents owned a cute little pastry shop that was connected too our house, the bakery and home portions separated accordingly. I walked passed the front counter and through the tables in the shop, but was halted by my father, Aruto, as he chased after me out the front door.

"Ikuto!" He called to me as he ran after me; I stopped in the center of the pathway to let him catch up.

"Morning Dad." I said calmly as caught his breath – was Dad really this out of shape?

"Ikuto, where do you think you're going!?" He asked me suddenly, turning an intent gaze on me.

"Um… to school?"

He grinned roughly as he brought his hand up; grabbing the apple I'd planned on eating out of my hand and replacing it with some sort of pasty. God, no.

"That's not what I meant! You're mom just created a new item for our menu! Taste _that_!" I suppressed a frown as I bit into it, the item that held all my humiliation… it's not that it didn't taste good, no, it tasted _really good_. The bread was sweet, and filled with strawberry and peach pieces here and there in the bread, with a tiny bit of cream in the center. It was lovely, something I'd expect from my mom. But the flavor wasn't the reason I hated it at all.

"It's great Dad, make sure she makes extra, the customers are gonna love it." I forced myself to smile encouragingly at my father, who seemed so proud of his wife at that moment. He beamed back at me with this great: 'My son understands this!' Expression as he handed me my apple again before turning around and heading back into the shop. If only he knew.

"Oh, don't worry, I will. Do your best at school!"

'_Whatever,' _was my only thought at that last bit of his farewell, I was sick of being told that. I continued down the path that led to the edge of the sidewalk, where Utau was waiting and turned to me with a surprised facial expression.

"Wow, you actually finished early! I might even have some extra time to catch up with the other girls at school if we hurry!" I said nothing as I continued walking, walking side by side with my sister. I shoved my barely-nibbled bread into her palm as we strode in the direction of the school.

"Eat it. I don't want it." I demanded calmly, and Utau obeyed, eating it as though she was hungry. Perhaps she had been in such a rush that she forgot to have breakfast?

"Oooh this is good – what is this!?" She asked, continuing to munch on the little fruit bread thing.

"Mom's new pasty."

"Oh." She sent me a sympathetic glance. "Dad made you eat it, didn't he?" She almost giggled. Once again, I didn't reply and continued down the path as we approached the school, and took a bite out of my apple. Utau knew better than anyone how much I hated pastries. It wasn't because of the taste. Too me, they where more symbolic than that. They where the items of my failure – my humiliation. Someone may ask: Why?

The reason is simple. My parent's bakery is famous around town for its delicious flavors and soft, luscious pastries, cakes, muffins, and other objects of the like. And who was I known as? The first born child (because I was the twin who was born first, of course.) of a family of patissiers who couldn't cook a damned thing. Every time I tried to cook or bake anything, it turned out to be a disaster. Things would burn, fire alarms would go off, and scary creatures would come out of the cooking pot. The closest I'd ever gotten to cooking was using the microwave to warm up some ramen.

It didn't matter how hard I tired, I just couldn't do it. And the reason this bugged me was not because I was the son of a man and women who where well known for their accomplishments – no, if the fact that I couldn't cook embarrassed them, that'd be their problem, not mine. The problem was the fact that I achieved in almost everything I did – and having something I should be going well in, but not achieving in it drove me crazy!

The reason my father always told me to 'do my best in school' was because he knew I would never be able to take over the family business – which meant I'd have to go to college and do some other job while Utau probably took over. Utau was quite good at baking, so she was next in line to take over the business.

But I hated having to over achieve in everything, just once I'd like to relax as I studied and perhaps get a lower grade to prove I was like everyone else. But I could never do that. I was already known at school for being someone who wasn't like everyone else. I had the most embarrassing title of…

"Ikuto, where are you going?! We're here!" I stopped in my tracks and realized I'd walked passed the school gates, Utau and Kotone where staring at me with skepticism.

"Oh." I said coolly, dismissing my mistake as something that didn't matter and taking a few steps back to Utau and Kotone.

"So. How was your vacation?" I asked the brunette, her emerald eyes gazing up at me warmly. Kotone was a childhood friend of Utau and I, and because of this she was very close to us. She was one of the few people I could be myself around. Or, should I say, at least _slightly_ myself.

"Good, and you?" She asked, the innocence in her voice ringing out as she said it.

"Same old same old. Feed the cat, go out once a weekend, and endure Utau kicking me…" The blond crossed her arms and glared at me.

"Well, you deserved it! You should have woken up sooner!" I shrugged and walked into the gates of the school, approaching the notice board that told everyone who had what class. Looked like this year I would have Yuu Nikaidou as my teachers… I looked down the list, and was pleased to see that I had classes with Tadase and Kukai. But Utau and Kotone where in other classes, and that meant I would have to bear the horrors of home economics class without their pity of letting me be their partners during certain assignments. Kukai and Tadase were smart, and knew not to partner up with me… this meant I would have to woo someone into being my partner. Great. Juuust great. I didn't like having to do that, but I was so good at it that it just seemed like second nature to reply on that ability if I needed someone to do something for me.

Oh yeah. My title at school? "Prince of Seduction." Yep. That was my title, not joking. How it came to become my title was a long story, full of misunderstandings and a certain fan club spreading rumors. Of course, I forced this fan club to disband eventually, but by then the damage had been done and I couldn't go back to simply being Ikuto Tsukiyomi, I had to live life as the schools 'hottest' and 'most sought after' guy. At first, I hadn't minded it. It gave me quite a bit of popularity and I discovered I had quite a useful ability to make girls do practically whatever I wanted. I took advantage of this, and now I wish I hadn't, because it had catastrophic effects.

This behavior attracted the types of girls who liked to sleep around with whoever they could convince, and although I had yet to be 'persuaded' to do such things, (Who could persuade such a prince?) I disdained this title because I really hated the kinds of girls it wore off. Being known as some sort of player at school didn't help me attract the kinds of girls I sought after, which were the cute, kind, and perhaps shy type. All of those kinds of girls were, unfortunately for me, very very smart and knew better than to go out with a guy like me.

My attitude and slight façade didn't help me much. Ever since I was a freshman, the only I knew how to get someone to go out with me was using my 'Prince of Seduction' ability on them, and this is exactly what the types of girls _I _like did _not_ like. Regrettably, I did not know how to act any other way around most girls. My seductive would take over before I could try and think of a way to act different – thus scaring off anyone I might have had interest in. At the same time, I'd never truly _liked_ anyone either, I'd only held slight interests in certain people, which never really developed into 'liking' someone, just being curious.

But the nice thing was, Utau, Kotone, Tadase, and Kukai understood I wasn't like that. It still didn't feel like quite enough though.

I rubbed the temples of my forehead slightly, closing my eyes and frowning. "Just two more years, Ikuto. Just two more…"

I turned and saw Utau and Kotone chatting happily amongst one another and assumed they'd gotten this years classes together – well, good for them. At least some people were happy.

Hearing footsteps behind me, I turned to see that Kukai and Tadase had arrived at school – already in their capes no doubt. Kukai and Tadase where part of the guardians council, which was apparently made to make sure harsh school rules were not put on the students, but I'd always thought that was a stupid reason to make a council. I'd wondered for a time if there was something that went on within the garden in which they held all of their meetings, but dismissed it because I knew it was none of my business anyway, and such information wouldn't assist me. The only thing known about the guardians group was that they helped with school rules, and that being invited to join the group seemed extremely random. The 'requirements' for joining it were unknown to the students of the school, including me, even though my two best friends where in it. Utau was also in it, being the queen chair, and she wouldn't tell me how she got in either. She only said that when someone reached the 'requirement' for joining, they would be invited immediately because the Guardians would just _know _they had what they were looking for. It sounded kinda creepy to me, but I didn't question her.

Currently, the only members were Tadase, being the in the kings chair, Kukai, the jacks chair, and Utau, the queen chair. No one had been invited in since Utau joined, meaning it had been two year since the last new Guardian ceremony. Apparently, that was quite awhile to go without a new member, since normally all five available spots would have been filled by now. I guess people just didn't have that 'special thing' that hey where looking for.

"There he is, Tadase!" I heard Kukai point me out and the blond turned his head, his expression turning from a concentrated one to a relieved one.

"Ikuto! Where have you been, commoner!? We've been looking all over for you!"

"Wouldn't it be obvious to look near the notice board, seeing as I'd _probably _want to know what my new class would be?"

"Oh… so then, you know we're in the same class as you already?" He asked, a blundering expression barely noticeable as it appeared on his face.

"Mhmmm…"

"Well then, know that we won't help you in home economics!" He proclaimed, crossing his arms and lifting his nose into the air rather snootily. Tadase had been like this for quite awhile – almost as long as I could remember. When I first met him in freshman year, he was a quiet and extremely kind, but over the years; he became a bit more demanding. I kind of liked his change though – it seemed more like his true self. I admired him for being able to change, for being able to do something I couldn't do…

"I already had a feeling you'd say that," I replied, pouting a bit and casting my gaze off to some random direction.

"Oooh," I heard Kotone say, "I'm sorry I can't be there to help you in home ec this year, Ikuto-kun! I feel a little bad now…"

"It's no big deal, Kotone." I reassured, brushing off the comment. "I'll survive. Whoever I get paired up with will just have to suck it up and be my cooking slave."

"A comment expected from Ikuto." Kukai said as he laughed.

"Mmmm…" More people were starting to arrive at school and look up their classes, and I realized I might be running out of time. I looked up at the school building, just above its front doors was a large clock. There where still about fifteen minutes until the school bell would ring, which was perfect, because I needed to talk to Kotone about some serious business.

"Kotone, come with me." I said, or somewhat demanded, heading towards school building. She followed obediently, as she always did when I called to her, and we walked towards my locker in silence until we were sure everyone was out of ear shot.

"So, did you fix it yet?" I asked her, raising an eyebrow.

"Well I did, but I'd like to replace the frame, it seems a bit old and out of place. That'll take me the rest of today, but I should have it back to you by tomorrow."

"Perfect." Came my reply, although it really wasn't perfect, because I didn't know how I was going to get 'it' home just yet. "It" was a violin. My sacred violin that only Kotone and Utau, and one other important person knew I had. It was my only treasure in the world at the time, although a forbidden one. My father was very against playing musical instruments, and I could never understand why. I always thought the sound of music would bring people joy, but to my father, whenever it had something to do with a violin he'd have such a disdain for it that he'd halt it at all costs. I found this out the hard way when I'd played the violin for Utau and my uncle Tsukasa when we were younger, my father came into the back yard in a small fit of fury, snatched the violin, and it was never seen again.

He had told me to "Focus on my studies" after that, and every time he told me to try my best in school, I was reminded of that horrific moment when he destroyed something that I was coming to love. It was my own fault that it happened though, my uncle Tsukasa had warned me that my father would act this was. Uncle Tsukasa was my favorite relative. Although we weren't related by blood, he had married into my family by marring one of my mother's sisters; he always had some sort of charm about him that attracted me. He was mysterious and enigmas and I liked that.

Tsukasa had been the one to teach Utau and I how to play instruments. There was a time when my parents had to leave for about a month on vacation, and we stayed at our uncles place until they returned. During that time, he taught Utau and I how to play the piano and violin. Utau turned out to be very predominant in play the piano, while I excelled in the violin. We both practiced night and day, and after two weeks into learning how to play, we decided to try and write our own simple songs and write lyrics to them. Utau and I turned out to be quite the pair when it came to anything involving music – and we learned to adore both instruments very much.

Tsukasa had warned us that our father hated the instruments, but I was somewhat of a child when I'd learned how to play these, so I ignored his warnings and tried to show off to my parents, which turned out to be the worse idea I'd ever thought up. My fathers hatred of the two instruments remained a mystery to the two of us, and I was forced into other activities to keep my mind off play them. But I never could. So eventually, I had my uncle give me one more violin. I only played it when my parents weren't home, and since I had the attic in my room, I hid my violin in there since no one used it. After that though, I didn't see my uncle Tsukasa again. My guess was that my father probably told him to stay away from his children, since he didn't want us to be around 'musical items'.

Before vacation, my violin had become a bit ridged, so I took it to Kotone for her to fix it. Kotone's family was known around town for the phenomenal job when it came to fixing and making violins, so I always brought mine to her shop whenever I needed something done. Kotone herself was very good at many different instruments since she'd grown up around them, and she never seized to amaze me with her skills. I never told anyone when I went to her shop though, because it might rise suspicious from my parents. She didn't have the time to fix it until the Sunday before school started again, which was why I wasn't receiving it until tomorrow. The current problem at hand was figuring out how I was going to bring my violin home the next day without my parents noticing.

After the short talk about the violin, Kotone and I put the stuff we didn't need in our lockers and began to head for class, since there were only about five minutes before the bell rang by then. I arrived at the classroom before Kukai and Tadase did, but there were still people who had arrived before me. They were all chattering about some new gossip – this early in the year? People sure were indecent. Most of my classmates were guys this year, so I didn't have to worry about any girls bothering me, but this was going to cause problems in cooking class. I'd figure it out though.

I simply listened to them as I took a seat near the window, resting my head in my palms and staring out the glass.

"…Ooh, did you hear? She's all the way from the other side of Japan! And she'll be here tomorrow!"

"How do you even know this!?"

"I met her yesterday as she was moving in! She's my new neighbor! She was so cool… her mom seemed really nice."

What was wrong withthese people? Did they have nothing better to do than to invade in other peoples lives? Whoever this 'new kid' was, the people talking about her right now would probably just stop caring about her anyway after she was here for a week or so. The excitement would soon die.

Kukai and Tadase arrived, taking their seats on the other side of the classroom since the seats near me were already taken, and class soon began. Nikadou sensei was quite clumsy, and the class constantly laughed at him because of it. The day went by slowly, but smoothly. I lucked out in home economics class because we didn't actually have cook or anything that day; the teacher just had us go over certain tools and what not. I was quite thankful for that, because I had enough on my plate of problems and couldn't be bothered with the trivial.

At the end of the school day, I had to head home alone since Utau had a royal guardians meeting. Even after I'd arrived home, I still couldn't figure out a good way to sneak my violin in. Sure, I could try sneaking through the back, but my parents were very attentive and wanted to know how my day was when I came home. They would surely be waiting for my arrival, and if I came in through the back that would make things that much more suspicious. I'd have to ask Utau if she had any ideas…

Once I reached home, I got the usual bombarding of questions from my parents about my first day of school.

"Ikuto! Welcome home~ How was your first day sweetie?" My mom asked me as I entered, her light yellow hair pulled up into a loose ponytail out of harms way as she put something into the oven – probably dinner. Her amethyst eyes turned their attention to me once she had done so, and she offered me the same warm, welcoming smile she always did. My mom was very kind. She was neutral on most situations with my father, and when it came to discipline, that was _not _her department. She was more of the parent that you'd go to if you needed to talk to her about something, or advice. Of course, I never spoke to her about any of my problems. Utau normally would, since they had that "Mother Daughter Bond" thing going on, but I didn't speak to anyone about my problems, and if I did, it was in such a small quantity that the person I'm speaking to might not even realize how stressed out I might be about something.

But that was the way I preferred it. I hated having people stress over me, because if they did, they'd try and push me into telling them what I might be upset about. And everything that I was upset about was all things that people would never understand. No one knew how hard it was to be under the pressure I was constantly under to succeed, about my hatred of baking, and only three people even came so much as an inch closer to understanding what the violin meant to me, and at the same time, these people still didn't know very much.

This is why, instead of telling my mom of all the apprehension I was having on my first day at school, I simply said: "Same old same old. Nothing new. Where's Dad?"

"Oh, he went to the grocery store. He'll be home in a few minutes."

I continued walking towards the stairs, calling behind me, "Homework," before I continued up.

"Okay dear! Dinner will be ready in thirty minutes!"

I didn't reply and just continued walking upstairs, closing the door behind me once I'd reached my room and plopping down on my bed once I'd set my book bag down. Before I could start pondering on my current predicament, Lieu leaped from the scratching post he'd been on and curled up next to me, rubbing against my head and purring happily. I smiled, and stroked his ginger colored fur as he got comfortable. I'd had the cat for about two years; Kotone had given him to me for my birthday. I was terrible at naming things so I gave him a boring name like 'Lieu', but it eventually grew on me and everyone else. He was awfully cute, a mixed cat with 85% of his body being covered with a soft, light ginger, and his left eye and tail covered in white. He was really lazy, but he never strayed away from the house, and was nice to have around when you were tired or felt like relaxing. He had a calm atmosphere about him; perhaps that's why I found him so refreshing.

"Well, perhaps now I can figure out how I'll get it home…" I murmured as I turned my attention to the ceiling.

~Nya.~

The next day of school had arrived, and I still had no clue about what I was going to. I considered asking Kotone to keep it for me until I could get a reasonable time too bring it home, but that meant that she'd have to bring it back and forth to school today. By the time I had thought of this, it was already time to leave for school. I couldn't just call her and tell her now to bring it now; she probably already had it with her. It would be rude to ask her to do that at this point.

Utau and I arrived at school that day a little later than yesterday, seeing as we didn't need to extra time to look up our classes. I met up with Kukai and Tadase as she went off to class with Kotone, and together the three of us went off to Nikaidou Sensei's class.

"Oi, Ikuto, did you hear we're getting a new transfer student in our class today?" Kukai asked me as we approached the class room.

"Yeah, but at the same time, I don't really care."

"Aw, don't be like that Ikuto! You never know, the person might turn out to be a really good friend. It's a chance to start over with someone who's clueless about your reputation!"

"Oh, just shut up." I opened the door to the classroom and we took our seats, waiting for the bell to ring. Once it did, our teacher came stumbling into the classroom with a ridiculous amount of books stacked in his grasp. He fell goofily to the floor, the entire book stack falling along with him. The class laughed hysterically at his actions as he scrambled to pick up his books, the poor teacher didn't even receive a helping hand. I would have gotten up to help him myself, but my social status wouldn't allow me to do so. I still felt bad though, and I didn't find his clumsiness for funny at all.

"Ahem," he began after he'd stacked all of his books on his desk messily, but accordingly. The class quieted down. "As I'm sure many of you already know, we have a new student today. She comes all the way from the other side of Japan and doesn't know anyone at school, so please be kind to her. Himamori-san, could you come in please?"

The students in the class room turned their heads as the door opened, revealing a lightly irritated looking pinkquette. Her eyes were an unusually bright shade of honey, and her hair was bubblegum pink, with some of it tied up in a bun at one side of her head in an X clip while the rest was left down to roam about freely. If you could look behind the glare she was giving the teacher, you could tell that she was a very cute girl. No, not sexy. Not at all. She was quite flat, so the 'sexiness' factor wasn't there for her. She was just plain cute. I liked that.

"It's 'Hinamori', sensei…" She corrected him, you could tell by her tone of voice that she was struggling to be polite.

"Ah, yes, yes. Well, anyway, everyone this is Amu Hima –"

"Hina." She corrected him again, this time with a hint of curtness.

"- Hinamori. So, why don't you introduce yourself to class?"

She finally looked out across the classroom, and I noticed she twitched. Was that a hint of nervousness I saw in her actions? I was probably just imagining it.

"…N-nice to meet you…" she managed to stammer, whispers rising in the classroom as she said so.

"How cool, doesn't she look rather rebellious?"

"Perhaps even spicy."

"That's it! Cool and Spicy Amu Hinamori!"

"Totally, it describes her perfectly!"

As they spoke, her nervous gaze turned into one of surprise when her eyes passed over Tadase and Kukai. I looked over at my two friends, and they both looked equally surprised as they stared at Amu. What was with the odd looks they were giving each other? It probably wasn't my business, but for some reason I was feeling quite curious.

"Can I sit down now…?" She requested, glancing away from Kukai and Tadase for a moment before walking to her designated seat, which was near the front of the classroom away from both me and my two friends. I took once last glance at Kukai and Tadase, taking note that Tadase whispered something to Kukai before paying attention to our first lesson of the school day.

Quite strange indeed.

~Nya.~

My home economics class was luckily my last class of the day, and because of that, we didn't always have all the materials needed to cook or bake whatever our assignments were that day. Today, we were to start off simple and bake cookies from scratch in small portions since we needed to share all the dough and whatnot. That was good, since that meant I didn't have to make a large amount. Less for me to burn!

Once my class arrived in the schools cooking room, they all got our aprons and began to get to work. Cookies were something that everyone was expected to know how to make, so it was not one of those 'partner up' assignments. So, I did what I normally did during such assignments. Nothing.

I went ahead and sat on the window sill of the room as I watched everyone working on their cookies, laughing and enjoying their little assignment. Kukai and Tadase had invited the new girl to their station, offering her help since she was 'new and all.' But I knew there was something else about her that they were attracted too. I wasn't quite sure what it was, but I would find out one of these days. Anything that caused them to want to have some random person around them while they cooked instead of _me_, their best friend, was something that needed to be solved. But as it turned out, she didn't need their help. She was the first in class too finish the cookies within the thirty minute time minute we had, and even went as far as cleaning up both her station, and Kukai and Tadase's stations. Although they were all finished, I remained where I was, watching them from afar as they continued chatting or whatever.

There came a point to where they all suddenly looked at me simultaneously, and a raised an eyebrow, wondering what they could be talking about. My question was answered when the new girl came over to my empty station and spoke to me for the first time that day:

"You're terrible at baking." It wasn't a question. But everyone at school already knew this, so it wasn't a big deal.

"And?" I questioned, wondering why she even cared.

"Tadase and Kukai think you need some help, so I'm going to help you since I'm the fastest out of the three of us," I smirked. Wow, I didn't even have to try and convince her to help me; my buds did that for me. How nice of them.

"I mean, anyone who can't bake simple cookies must be completely hopeless," she went on. My smirk fell, and I came to realize what kind of girl this person might be. A big mouth, or a blunt person, like Utau? Perhaps.

"…But you should not be left out to fail, especially this early in the school year." She finished, getting the ingredients and mixing them together to make the dough. It sounded as though she was going back and forth between being nice and being slightly rude. Was she struggling with her own attitude or something? I said nothing to her and just glanced at the clock. Fifteen minutes remained. It took ten minutes to bake them. Could she do it in time?

"Flavor?"

"Chocolate chip."

"Uh-huh…" she reached into a bag of chocolate chips and tossed them into the bowl, twirling the large spoon in it until the little bits of chocolate had been evenly separated within the dough. She then pulled out a cookie tray and the little balls of chocolate chip dough in them evenly, placing them in the oven and setting the timer to ten minutes. Wow, she'd done that in three minutes flat. We'd still have two minutes left to clean.

But she didn't waste any time in cleaning, and was already washing the extra dough that stuck to the inside of the bowl down the drain of the sink. She washed the spoon as well, and began to put whatever was left of the ingredients away in their designated areas. After all that had been done, she still had five minutes left, so she went back to Kukai and Tadase to continue their conversation until the timer went off, and she was back. After the cookies had cooled off, she set them on a plate and washed out the tray, then put it away and handed me the plate: doing all of this without sparing me a single glance.

"Done. Remember this, 'cause you owe me!" She then grabbed her own plate of cookies and showed them to the teacher, leaving the classroom before anyone else after he approved. I owed her now, did I? I smirked at that thought.

Amu Hinamori. Cute. Quite interesting.

~Nya.~

"…So I gave it a silver frame instead, I hope that's okay."

"No, it looks really nice Kotone. Thank you."

"The shop's been rather slow lately, so if anything happens, feel free to bring it back and I'll be able to fix it up in a jiffy! Oh, and also, I put some extra strings in your case, so don't worry about coming to the shop if one breaks."

"Great, thanks again Kotone. You're a life saver."

"A-anytime Ikuto!" She piped up a bit at that part before turning around and running off in the direction of home. I gave her a short wave as she ran off and began walking home alone in the opposite direction, violin case in hand. Utau had another guardian meeting today, which was strange since there wasn't one planned today. She told me it had been 'urgent' and that it was mandatory that she went, so I didn't protest. She promised me it'd be a short meeting, so that was good, because I had finally found my solution to my violin problem. After the final class of the day, my parents had called me and said they had to go out of town to get some necessary supplies for the bakery. The main place they got their cutlery and the like from was in a different town that was about an hour and twenty minutes away, and then it took them about an hour to shop, which meant I had about four hours to myself at home. Problem solved. I was hoping Utau would come home quickly today so that we might be able to have one of those rare duets; I never got to play my violin if my parents were home so I never got to play often.

Today I was going to spend my time after school tuning the violin and playing it for as long as possible, enjoying the beautiful sound it produced. Once I arrived home, I dashed up the stairs and into my room, throwing my book bag carelessly onto the floor and opening my case to gaze down at my prized possession. The violin my uncle had given me almost two years ago perfectly modified and fitted, not to mention it had a shiny new silver frame and fresh strings. I got to tuning it and once that had been done, proceeded to a warm-up song: the Zelda lost wood song, of course, followed by the lullaby and a few other completely random songs that popped into my head. I continued this for about an hour until I heard someone come through the front door, and took my violin to put it pack into its case, pushing it under my bed just in case it was my parents arriving home early.

I wasted no time heading downstairs, meeting a very excited Utau in the dining room. She grinned at me once she saw me come down, and proceeded to tell me a little about the meeting.

"Ikuto! There's going to be a new guardian!" She proclaimed happily. I was quite shocked to hear her say that, since there hadn't been one for the last two years.

"Really? Who?"

"Oh, I can't tell you!"

"Then why would you bother telling me in the first place?!"

"'Cause I like to see you squirm." She smiled sweetly as she said that, how contradictory.

"Well, when's the new guy being announced?" I asked putting on a bored expression.

"Oh, I dunno, maybe in two days or something. But anyway, didn't Kotone give you back your violin today?"

"Mhmmm… you know what that means…" I smirked devilishly.

"Go get it Ikuto; I'll meet you outside in the backyard!" I shot back up the stairs yet again, coming back down with the violin in hand and stepped onto the backyard porch, Utau sitting on our cushioned swing as she waited for me to tune the violin again for the correct song.

"Yume no Tsubomi?"

"Yeah."

"The perfect warm-up song! Ahh, it brings back to many memories, like when we went to uncle Tsukasa's house and started writing our own lyrics and…" I tuned her out almost completely as I finished up the tuning, getting into stance and signaling for her to shut up and sing.

And then, we made music.

_Yume wo tsubomi hiragu_

_Mabushii sora wo aogi  
_

_Mune paii hirogaru  
_

_Yasashii kaori  
_

_Kioeru wa  
_

_Koi no rizumu  
_

_Kisetsu koe  
_

_Ai ni kiteme  
_

_Daisuki darou  
_

_Sasaya itara  
_

_Sekaijuu ni  
_

_Kikoe chuu kana  
_

_Hazuka shikute  
_

_Usubu miteta  
_

_Watashi no te wo tori  
_

_Hayashii desu…_

We continued on like this for a long time, playing many of the songs we wished to have done for so long but did not have the chance too. The last time Utau and I had a moment to ourselves prior to this was two months ago, and it had only been for about thirty minutes. We were going to enjoy all the time we possibly could at that moment. But how long would we have to continue this? We both had a strong love for music, especially the classical kind. When we would ever be able to play whenever we want, and sing as we wanted?

'_We never will,'_ was my thought as my parents arrived home two hours early. Through all the singing and violin playing Utau and I were doing, we hadn't heard them come home, and so, we were caught. _'Never.'_

"Ikuto, Utau… what is the meaning of this?" My father asked as he gave us a disciplining glare from the sliding glass for. I stopped short in playing, and slowly turned to meet his gaze.

Crap.

"D-d-dad!" Utau stammered. I brought my violin to my side and held an arm in front of her, signaling for her to be quiet.

"It was my idea," I lied; it had really been both of our ideas, but there was no point in getting us both in trouble. "I asked Utau to sing for me while I played to help me practice."

His glare thickened in my direction, I knew what was coming next. A repeat of what happened last time.

My father snatched away my violin, and I didn't try to fight back. I'd only lose anyway, now that he knew I had the violin it would be too difficult to hide it again.

"I can see we have to go through this again," he said, tossing the bow of my violin to the side as he raised the violin a little above his leg. "You're done with this!" He brought the violin down hard on his knee, and the force broke in two. All that hard work Kotone had put into fixing it… wasted. He tossed the remaining pieces aside, "Understand?" he demanded an answer, but I gave him none. I just spared a short sympathetic glance at my crying younger twin sister before walking passed him calmly, shoving my hands in my pockets and heading for my room, not even looking at my mother who was probably staring after me with a sad expression.

I didn't bother slamming the door – that wouldn't do me any good at all. That night, I didn't bother eating dinner or taking a shower – I just slipped into my night clothes and hopped right into bed, stroking Lieu as I found myself staring at the ceiling again.

'_When will it end…?' _I asked myself as I was starting to feel drowsy. _'All I want to do is play music. I just want to play my music, and be free from all of pressure. Why can't he just tell me why he hates instruments so much? Is it really that hard? It would be easier not to play at all if I understood him …'_ I turned to my side and curled up a little, Lieu curling into my abdomen comfortably. I had only one thought as I fell asleep.

'_I just want to be… free.'_

_

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**Alex's notes:** Aw, I know, I made Aruto a meanie. :[ But he's really not an evil father, trust me, he won't be. He just hates instruments for a reason that won't be revealed for quite some time. (I personally never cared for Aruto though. How dare he leave Ikuto like that in the main series? D: I hope we find out the reason some day.)

For all of you who don't know who Kotone is, she is **_not_** an OC, she is a **_filler character_** from episode 49. Look her up if you don't remember her, her design is quite cute.

It was raining all day today, so I had tons of time to write up this chapter. I wrote it in about half a day! The next chapter is where things really start to kick up – lots of interesting, whacky things will happen. *_* I promise it'll be entertaining.

To imagine the bakery, think of Takato's parent's bakery from Digimon in season three, or Nagisa's bakery in Clannad. That's where the idea came from. :)

This chapter was mainly to introduce the background of each of the characters – specifically Utau and Ikuto. Ikuto's life still sucks, just not as much as before. And soon, we will find our more about him, and Amu as well. Amu will be in the next chapter a lot more, but I couldn't put her in a lot in this chapter, we must focus on Ikuto's life so we can understand him first since he's the MC!

Now, **Review please! Reviews keep me going, just like batteries and the energizing bunny!  
**


	3. Kinky kitty cosplay?

**Alex's notes:** Har har, now it's getting interesting! And HEY, tell me if my writing is making Ikuto too girly! This is my first time telling a story from a guy's point of view so I might slip-up.

**TWO** **IMPORTANT PIECES OF INFO.**

**1: **In this fan fiction, **the embryo doesn't exist**. Sorry, that's just the way I'm making it for my own convenience and purposes. Trust me, if it existed, it could possibly cause a lot of issues and a plot hole. It isn't needed in this story anyway, so deal.

**2:** Just to clear up any confusion readers may have, the Ikuto narrating now is the same Ikuto as from chapter 1, but with his memories replaced. Meaning: He does not remember his passed life, only his new, current one. And never will remember his old one. Ever.

**To put it simply:** The Ikuto in chapter one was different from the Ikuto in the rest of the story. **They have different and separate lives, memories, and circumstances, which do not intertwine in any way**. The only thing that's the same is their personality, likes/dislikes, appearance, and some trivial stuff. I hope that clears any questions up. ^-^

Please **enjoy, and R&R!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Shugo Chara! Peach Pit does.**

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_The Miracle Swap_

_Chapter 3: Kinky kitty cosplay…?_

Shoot, I was running out of reasons. None of the ones I thought up so far were helping me understand what was happening. I wasn't a girl, I wasn't a hen or bird of any sort, so how could this possibly happen?

I sat on the carpet of my room, legs crossed, elbows resting on my legs as they supported my head, and a looked of deep thought on my face. This morning, I'd woken up to something rather ill-timed. The slight air of unhappiness from what had happened the night before still lingered as I rolled over in my bed to turn off my alarm, but lost control after I rolled over something hard, fell to the floor with a large _thump_. After falling, I heard two softer thumps of something falling to the floor. Finally wide awake, I opened my eyes and noticed something odd.

Two eggs, resting comfortably on the carpet of my bedroom. I blinked, sitting upright but not taking my eyes off strange objects that had appeared out of nowhere. After staring at them for a few moments, I pulled my face and proceeded to try as many different ways to wake myself up as possible, if this was a dream. After slapping myself about three times, I realized that this was _not _a dream and that I had to face reality: I had just broken about a hundred different rules of science by laying eggs. Somehow.

Sighing, I reached a hand forward and picked one of them up, examining it. It was black, with a zigzag design going across the center, a cat head surrounded by white patterned across it. And the stranger thing was this: It was warm. Did that mean it would hatch soon? I reached my other hand down and picked up the second egg. This one was a bit simpler than the other; it was dark blue with two white violin scroll symbols on it, in the center of the two symbols was one of a white G clef. Interesting.

I stood up and placed the two eggs on my desk, realizing that I had actually woken up earlier than I normally did as I looked at my alarm clock. I set my alarm clock about thirty minutes before I actually needed to wake up; I was a very heavy sleeper and often needed a good three tries before I could wake up fully. Today had been different though, because I'd gone to sleep earlier than usual the night before.

As I made my bed, I got to thinking that perhaps Utau had played some sort of joke on me. Maybe she took some eggs, painted them, and then…

Okay no, that idea wasn't good. It wasn't logical: Why would Utau play a joke on me with eggs that had such complicated patterns on them? She wasn't the artistic type, so she couldn't have been able to paint them. Plus, they were warm, so unless she'd gotten them freshly laid from a hen on a farm, it didn't explain the situation very well.

I raised the sheets of my bed lightly to help them straighten out on my mattress. The first thing I noticed was that there was yet _another _egg hidden under the sheets – probably the one I toppled over when I fell out of my bed. I reached under the sheets and pulled it out from beneath them – the moment I did, I realized something was off about this one. For one, it was cold. Secondly, its design was rather strange. It was black, with one giant, white 'X' over it. _'How ugly.' _I thought as I stared at the egg a little, and noticed that it wasn't completely black after all. There was a darkened pattern hidden under the white X, it was an old-fashioned, non-electrical egg beater.

Deciding it meant nothing; I set it next to the other eggs and got ready for school – taking a shower, feeding the cat, and whatnot, all at a slower pace than usual since I had extra time. In the end, I decided it would be best to bring the little eggs with me – I didn't want my parents searching my room, finding them, and then throwing them or anything like that. I stuffed them into my book bag, hoping they wouldn't get squashed or anything because I wouldn't want to clean up that sort of yolky mess, and stepped slowly downstairs. It was quiet, meaning no one was awake. Odd, yet perfect. Didn't want any awkward confrontations – not that they'd be awkward for me, I was used to keeping my cool, calm atmosphere, and was good at pretending things didn't happen. Before leaving, I opened the pantry and searched it until I found something rather new – Chocolate strawberry flavored pop-tarts? Well, it was about time the pop-tart company started making something I was interested in, much better than that milkshake crap they made.

Grabbing one of the little toaster pastry packets out of its box, I left the house aloofly. Oddly, I wasn't feeling all bad after the whole violin incident. This was strange, since I would normally be an angry wreck on the inside, but I felt calm about the whole ordeal. Still, I felt bad about Kotone's work going to waste like that. She had worked on the violin for me for free, and I got careless. I'd just have to buy another one after the heat died down; I couldn't rely on her or my uncle this time.

As I turned the final corner and arrived at the school, I heard quite a commotion coming from the side of the school. Being the somewhat nosy fellow I am, I casually followed the sound and discovered Kukai, Tadase, and Utau arguing amongst themselves – or having a 'heated discussion' as they might call it. I wasn't surprised to see Utau with the guardians, already in their capes no doubt, since she sometimes needed to come to school earlier than I for her Guardian Duties.

"Where could it have possibly gone!? No one at this school should even know of its existence!" Tadase bellowed. Obviously, something was seriously wrong at the moment.

"Someone must be infiltrating the school…" Kukai suggested, scratching his head in thought.

"Who could possibly infiltrate such a heavily guarded area of the school? It must be one of the students. Someone must've overheard one of our meetings." Utau declared, crossing her arms to signal she was now stubborn about her opinion on the matter.

"That makes sense," Tadase agreed, his ruby eyes narrowing in suspicion, "But if it's true, then who?"

"Well, all we can do for now is investigate and watch the rest of the students for odd behavior. Maybe ask some questions." Kukai concluded.

I felt a little bad for my small group of friends. Whatever had been stolen from them must've been extremely important if it was under 'heavy security' at the school. I stopped a moment to consider asking them if they needed any help, but I probably wasn't supposed to hear what they were talking about in the first place, so they'd probably reject the offer. I turned around and started heading toward my classroom, wishing I knew what they had been looking for so that I could keep an eye on it. But whatever, it was 'Guardian Business' after all, which meant they probably wouldn't accept any form of help.

Once I reached the class room, I waltzed over to my seat and set my bag on my desk, resting my head in the palm of my hand again as I gazed out the window, not even thinking about the eggs. The view outside my window was awfully nice. It had the view of the schools field and garden, the guardian's greenhouse located at the center of a pathway lined with flowers and whatnot. The field was interesting to watch during school – normally people were playing sports for P.E and did stupid things as they did so. Lucky for me, I only needed to take two years of P.E, and I had already accomplished that.

I continued to stare out the window, alone in the classroom with nothing but my thoughts to accompany me, until I heard the classroom door open. I didn't bother turning my head, as I didn't care who had entered, but when I heard their footsteps begin to approach me I decided it was time to acknowledge their existence – I turned my head to see that new kid coming towards me – what was her name again? Amu I believe it was. I took note of her new hairstyle today – her pink hair was brought up into a pony tail, with many strands of hair handing off and curving along the sides of her face. She had a somewhat nervous look on her face as she approached me, and I found it rather suspicious that she stuttered as she spoke.

"Yo."

"Um…"

"What are you doing here so early in the morning?" I asked her, although that wasn't really what I wanted to know.

"N-no reason of importance! But I do have a question for you." I raised an eyebrow. This girl barely knew me, what could she possibly have to ask me?

"Well, go on." I urged her, curious of as to what she had to ask me.

"W-well…" she averted her gaze and poked her index fingers together as she pondered, couldn't she just spit it out already?

"Did anything… strange happen to you this morning?"

My eye widened a bit as I remembered the egg situation – I had completely forgotten about them. I glanced at the bag on my desk, which was probably a dead giveaway along with my surprised expression that something had indeed happened this morning. How did she know? Why was she asking? Did she know about them? Wait, wait! Why was it any of _her _business!? She was a complete stranger to me!

"Not at all. Why?" Came my response as I kept my calm air about me, giving her an innocent 'I've no clue what you're talkin' about!' expression. She didn't seem to buy it, but didn't pry either. Her only indication of noticing my brief moment of exposure was a small, devilish grin on her face.

"Just a vibe." Was all she said before she scuttled back to her seat, shuffling through the things in her backpack as she sat down. I caught sight of something blue in her bag, but paid no mind to it, turning my head back too the window and gazing through the glass as I waited for school to begin.

~Nya.~

The morning was a strange one indeed. Kukai and Tadase were late for class, saying that they had 'Guardian Duties' that needed to be taken care of before they could come to class. Of course, they were excused, but I could tell that they were having trouble concentrating on today's lessons. They must've never found what they had been looking for, as they were quite stressed.

Amu did not approach me again that day, nor did she speak to Tadase and Kukai. They didn't seem to take this behavior as strange though, they were too busy in deep thought to converse with the pinquette as it was.

When the bell rang for lunch, I was up and out of my seat in a flash but for no particular reason. I didn't feel very hungry, I just felt like getting out. Before leaving the classroom, I decided to greet Kukai and Tadase, even though I knew they were busy. They'd think I was acting weird if I did otherwise.

"Oi," was all I said as I approached their desks, the two looked up at me and Tadase smiled.

"Ikuto! Hey, listen, could you do us a favor and give us a hand?"

Wow, were they going to ask for help for what I thought they needed help with? This could get interesting if my suspicions were correct. It might give me the perfect opportunity to find out more about the Guardians…

"Sure, what is it?"

"We need your help to find something," Kukai began, "At first, we were reluctant to ask anyone for help, but something was recently stolen from the Guardians and we need assistance in looking around to see if we can find an odd behavior amongst the students. Since you're Utau's sister, you're honestly the only one we can slightly trust out of the council."

I cocked my head to the side a bit, faking a look of confusion. "I guess I'll help. What is it I should be looking for?"

"It's a lock. But not only a lock!" Tadase stood up, raising a finger to the air and placing one foot on a chair as he spoke to add what he would call: "A dramatic effect."

"It's a very important, special lock that must never be given to someone who doesn't deserve it! It is what one of the things that the Guardians Stand for! It is one of our symbols! We must get it back, or else my kingdom may fall!"

"Uh… kingdom?" I asked.

"YES, my kingdom! You'll know the lock when you see it; it's golden with a colorful, yet slightly transparent piece of flower jewelry over the lock!" Inwardly, I was smirking. So _that's _what they were looking for.

"Well, alright then. I'll keep an eye out for it…" I was going to do more than that, really. I was awfully bored today, and searching for the Guardian's missing item might be somewhat entertaining, if not that, then at least it would give me something to do. Not only that, but if I found it, perhaps they'd answer a few questions I'd been wanting to know the answer too as thanks… doubtful, but I guy could try, right?

"Alright then!" Kukai exclaimed as he stood up from his seat and dragged a still-ranting Tadase from the room, "We'll search the south side of the school, and Utau will be searching in the building. You search the north – like near the fields or ditches or something, because we haven't gotten the chance to look there yet." I nodded casually as I strode out of the classroom from the opposite door – heading north as he'd instructed. I walked down the hallways coolly, heading for the door that lead to the outside of the school, but was stopped by two people I can honestly say I detest very much.

"IKUTO-SAMAAAAA!" I'd recognize that voice anywhere…

"Wait up, wait up, nia!" And that accent…

Putting on an almost emotionless face, I turned heel to face my two 'stalkers', as I enjoyed calling them.

"Ikuto! We haven't seen you since the day when the year ended, what've you been up too?" Saaya Yamabuki, sophomore, my nickname for her: The conceited rosette one.

"Nothing much," I lied, I never told these two what I was 'up too'. It was too dangerous to do such a thing.

"Aw, is that so?" Lulu De Morcerf, also a sophomore, my nickname for her is: That one blond chic that must have some form of bipolar disorder. "Well, we really haven't been up to too much either. Saaya and I were just talking about how our classes are so weird now without you around, it's so boring!"

"Boring, de nia~…"

"ANYWAY!" Saaya piped up at Lulu's interruption, "We were wondering if you'd like to have lunch with us so that we could, you know, catch up?" She put on an expression of unadulterated hope, and Lulu simply crossed her arms and huffed, obviously upset about Saaya's shush. Yet, I did not feel bad when I had to let them down.

"Can't, sorry~" I smirked at the mischievously as I shrugged, enjoying the expressions of crestfallenness on their faces.

"But-but why?"

"I'm busy, I've been assigned something to do during lunch that could take the next few days to get done, and I don't have time to hang around." Truthfully, I did not know if this little treasure hunt would take me a few days or not, but whatever it took to keep these two away from me.

"We can help you!" Saaya offered, or rather, she practically begged, as another look of hope shot across her face.

"Nope, I've been ordered to do this alone, but thanks," and without another word, I turned around and strode away – at a slightly faster pace than before. Anything to get away from those two.

Oh sure, they didn't seem bad at the moment, but once they had me in their clutches the two made an auctioneer look like a slow talker with nothing to say. I could honestly say they were the two most irritating girls on campus, because they just _would not _leave me alone, especially last year when we had a mixed class together full of sophomores and freshmen. I never had a moment to myself; they were always breathing over my shoulder and asking me questions. The only good thing about them was that they were good cooks – B+ in home economics last year. I was quite happy not to have them in my class this year, or better yet, to have very few in my class.

I continued my way out the doors and down the steps that lead to the north side of school. An odd area it was, most people didn't hang out here because the landscaping was rather strange. There were a lot of ditches here and there in the grass, enough to fit a person within them if someone where unlucky enough to fall in. But they weren't deep, just troublesome. There were also a few patches of drowning water here and there, showing the sprinkler system left something to be desired. I waltzed passed the mud puddles, dodging any ditches with ease as I surveyed that part of the school. No one was there, no one ever was. It seemed almost pointless to check this area; it was so unattractive that most students stayed away from it. There was nothing of importance there anyway. But then again, when you're looking for something important, I suppose it's essential to look anywhere and everywhere.

After checking the whole south side of the school, I discovered there was no one there hiding or doing anything chary, so I decided it was time to head back. I continued along the path I had made for myself – free of mud, wetness, and ditches, but I wasn't quite prepared to be attacked, so I wound up falling into one of the ditches and dropping my book bag – thankfully it was a dry one – shocked from the collision.

After falling into the small ditch, I opened my eyes to see someone odd going through my bag. This person was dressed in almost all blue, with a ruffled artsyish light alice blue top with two ruffly, spiraled ribbons jutting from the sides, dark blue shorts and striped stockings of the same color and white and brown boots digging through my book bag. The person had a blue butterfly mask on, covering all of their facial features accept for her mouth, and whatever hair they may have had was stuffed into a blue puffy hat, hidden just as her face was. I could tell it was a girl – you could easily tell from the slimness of her figure.

"Oi! What are you doing? Get your hands out of my bag!" I yelled, sitting up and attempting to reach for it, but the girl nimbly jumped a ways backwards as she continued digging through my bag, until she finally pulled out what she had been looking for – my eggs.

She stared at my black cat egg for a minute before tossing it aside; I jumped up and caught it before it hit the ground.

"Junk," she said before examining the next one.

"H-hey! Don't just throw it, it might break – OI!" She tossed my violin egg as well, and I found myself leaping to catch that one in addition to the other before it hit the ground.

"Also junk…" she murmured before examining my last egg – and at the sight of this one, she smiled. " Who knew someone could give birth to and x egg… oh well, it doesn't matter, this is perfect." Without a single glance at me, she began to speed away. I tried to chase after her for a second before realizing she was much to fast for me – and I soon gave up.

Okay, this was weird. A masked girl comes out of no where, tackles me into a ditch, steals my eggs, and then runs off without a word. Could today get any weirder? As I watched her run away, I noticed she dropped something. It was a shining gold, and had a somewhat transparent rainbow flower jewelry piece on it… hey wait, wasn't this the thing I was supposed to be looking for? I picked up the lock, and it began to shimmer slightly – or was it just my imagination?

"_IKUTO! What the heck – chase after her you idiot, NYA!" _I was shocked to discover a voice emitting from the black cat egg that rested safely in my hand.

"I've gone off the deep end... Now _eggs _are talking to me."

"Stop talking and run!" The egg floated out of my hand – defying the laws of gravity, if I might add – and cracked a bit. In a slit second, a fairy-like creature popped out of it – his hair a close shade to mine, but spiky, and his large, emotion-filled eyes were a bright brown. He had huge cat paws on all four limbs, cat ears and tail, and was wearing a black pair of shorts and shirt – complete with a cross necklace and spike belt.

"Wait, so you're not a bird of some sort?" Was the only thing I could think of asking at the moment, although I was quite sure I would be able to think of better questions in a matter of seconds.

"Don't ask questions – go chase after her! We can't let her steal your would be self – even if it's an x egg right now!"

"What are you talking about; I can't possibly catch up with her. Did you not see how fast she was running!?" I argued, this little fairy wasn't making any sense.

"You can be just as fast, and chase after her with the speed of a cat, nya! Ikuto-kun's own heart – unlock!"

"That has to be the lamest thing I've ever heard – wait, what the – OI!" As if today couldn't get anymore obscure – the lock began to glow feverishly as my outfit suddenly decided to change after the little cat-boy-fairy thing went back into his egg and seemed to disappear into me. My old clothing vanished, and in its replacement, I was now wearing something rather hard to describe. It was a very tight set of clothes, with some form of a dark blue vest – matching the same shade of my hair - it wasn't uncomfortably tight but it seemed cut at a very short length– and I took note that I was also wearing the same cross necklace that the cat fairy thing also had on earlier. I also now had on a pair of dark blue sleeves, the right one having some sort of claw on it, along with tight pants of the same color, boots, cat ears, and a tail. Attached to the vest were two very large, long blue and red ribbons that seemed to flow out of harms way.

"_Character change: Black lynx!"_

"What the hell!"

"_Just shut up and run, de nya!" _Involuntarily, my legs began moving, and I leaped forward at a scary distance after the girl, how was it possible for me to leap at such a great feat!?

"No, seriously," I insisted as I closed the gap between me and the little blue thief, "What is it with this outfit? Is this some sort of kinky kitty cosplay trick by some sort of anime freak!?"

"_I'll explain it all later, but right now we need to focus on getting the egg back!"_

I looked ahead – the little pickpocket was now trying to make her escape by climbing over the fence that separated the school from a nearby road. If all I had to do was get the egg back to get the answers I desired, then I would have to comply.

"Fine," I agreed, surging forward once again as the gap finally came to a close. Once I landed, I took my time approaching the girl, as she seemed to be struggling to get over the fence. One of the ruffled ribbons attached to her shirt seemed to have gotten caught, and she was struggling to get free from the bottom of the other side of the fence. I nimbly took a leap over the fence and landed right behind her – it was only at this moment that she realized I'd caught up with her. But it was a bit too late now – I wasn't going to let her escape with something that belonged to me… even though I had no clue what it was.

She let a gasp escape from her mouth once I'd pinned one of her hands to the fence, a glare of daggers radiating from my expression, I'm sure.

"Give it."

She didn't reply to this, only taking my egg and tossing it far into the air. I fell for the trick unfortunately, and looked up into the air, releasing my grip on the girl as I tried to catch it as it came back down.

"Colorful canvas!"

Just as I was about to reach it, I felt a sudden wave of some sort of liquid fall over me. I fell to the ground and looked up to see the thief picking up my egg, a giant paintbrush held in her other hand. She smiled at me before leaping into the air and disappearing from sight.

"She got away…" I mumbled in disappointment as I stood up, trying to brush what I now recognized at paint off of me. My clothes suddenly went back to normal as the little fairy guy popped out again – and I was now free of paint.

He sulked a little bit as he floated toward me, stopping once he was about eight inches away. "Well, we tried, nyah… I hope we'll be able to get it back again some day."

"Whatever," I blew off the comment, because in all honesty I didn't care about the egg that had just been stolen. It seemed like a dud anyway – with that big x on it and the cold feeling it gave off. What mattered now was that I had the lock my friends needed – and the fact that now, I should get my answers. "Now explain to me what's going on."

"And you'll get your answers," a new voice spoke before the cat fairy could begin. I turned around to face the fence to see Kukai, Tadase, and Utau waiting for me on the other side – my sister having a wide grin on her face.

"So you're saying you have all the answers?" I questioned them for a moment, but unexpectedly felt I didn't need too after I asked – my friends seemed to have a new light about them, as though they knew more than I possibly could at that split second. But how could that be?

Utau nodded, and I hopped the fence again – dropping the lock into my sisters hand as the three beckoned for me to follow them to their little greenhouse garden. I felt unexpectedly excited, but that was probably a normal reaction since no one besides the guardians and special guests get to even see the inside. This would be quite interesting. Of course, none of them knew how curious I was.

"Ikuto…" The little cat fairy floated up to my side again, gazing at me sadly. "You haven't even asked me what my name is yet, nya!"

"I'm sorry, but perhaps it's because I do not care." I was just being honest.

"N-nya!? How can you not care!? I-I-I'm you're guardian character! You have to care!"

I nodded all-knowingly before replying – "Oh yeah, I care because _completely _know what a 'guardian character' is. Heard the phrases many times before. Mhm." Sarcasm, of course. The fairy sulked even further, a look of hurt coming across his face.

"Oh, it's okay, don't worry about him. Ikuto's just a grumpy kid!" Utau grinned from ahead mockingly, a look of raucousness on her face. I scowled, not really in the mood for games.

"Utau is right! He's always in a bad mood, even on a good day!" A devil-like fairy the same size as Yoru appeared – chuckling as she floated to his side. She had a very demonic grin about her – but it wasn't very creepy because it, for some odd reason, seemed normal. I was not surprised at her appearance – nothing was surprising anymore after what I'd gone through today.

"I second that!" An angelic fairy followed suit of the devilish one – floating up beside the cat fairy and patting him lightly. "So, what's your name?"

"Yoru…" He mumbled somberly, not bothering to look up at the angelic fairy who was attempting to comfort him.

"I'm Eru! That over there's Iru, we're Utau-chan's guardian characters!"

We had almost reached the guardians greenhouse, and they continued chattering as I was lost in my own thought. Great, more little nuisances. It was like having a group of kids following you around. But more importantly, what was a guardian character? And what was with that transformation earlier? This day was just getting stranger and stranger as it went on. It made me not want to think about what might happen later on – anything else out of the ordinary might give me a heart attack.

"We're here!" Tadase announced as he pushed open the doors to the garden, a burst of fresh and various plant scents filling the air upon entry. It was a very well-kept greenhouse, that was for sure. Flowers and plants were lined along the path way – which led to a few steps up to a dais with five chairs, surrounded by one comfortably sized table. We all took a seat as two more of the fairy things came floating up to us – just as loud as the rest had been.

"Tadase! What is the meaning of this!?" A kingly fairy floated up next to Tadase, sending me a suspicious glare. He looked a lot like him, just with purple hair and purple eyes.

"Ikuto has Shugo Chara now, so it's okay." Tadase explained to the little ingrate, although I didn't even understand what he was talking about myself. "I think we should go ahead and get this explanation underway,"

~Nya.~  
(Explanation is unneeded. You all know the basics of S.C, right?)

"So… let me get this straight. This thing -"

I pointed to the Chara known as Yoru, who was floating contently next to me –

"Is a 'Shugo Chara' and represents my 'would be self'. His existence is solely to help me realize any 'potential' I may have, and this -"

I picked up the lock that Utau had set down next to me earlier, "Is the humpty lock, which helps people do a character transformation with their Shugo Chara. But it only works for one person…?"

"Yes," Utau confirmed, "This humpty lock only works for one person – although it can effect the people around it's owner. None of us have ever been able to use it, meaning we're not destined to be it's owner, but _you _got it to react, which means you're the new owner of the humpty lock!"

"I feel so honored…" I mumbled sarcastically, I wasn't excited to be responsible for such an important item.

"But the weird thing is," Tadase began "The destined owner of the lock is supposed to have three eggs, but you only have two. It's quite strange indeed…"

My memory flickered back to the moment the egg that I had stolen, it's white X and cold feel still stuck in my memory for some reason.

"Actually, I did have three eggs. At least, I did this morning." All heads turned to me, Utau asked what happened. "Well, the girl who I said stole the humpty lock also robbed me of my egg and got away with it – but it seemed like a dud anyway, so I didn't really care."

"Dud? What do you mean by 'dud'?" Kukai asked, leaning forward in his seat a bit.

"Well, it had a big ugly white x over its design, and was close to being completely black. I could barely make out the pattern under it because it was so dark, and it was also really cold…" I stopped in my explanation when everyone at the table shot me looks of alarm – what had I done wrong?

"What?" I asked snoopily, disgusted with the looks they were sending me.

"I-It had an x on it!?" Tadase asked, panic riddled in his voice. I nodded.

"Ikuto, an egg with an x on it… it's more like a would-be-self that's been given up on, or has lost all hope in ever being possible. Eggs only have x's on them when the owner has given up on the dream that they represent."

I pondered about this, and the concept made sense, but the reason why _I _had an x egg was still incomprehensible at the time. What dream could I have possibly abandoned? My only wish to play my violin, there wasn't anything for me to give up on. Unless…

I relaxed in my seat, frowning a little, "Well, there's nothing we can do about it now. The girl already got away with my egg."

"What did she look like?" Kukai asked.

"Impossible to know, she was wearing a blue butterfly mask so her facial features were hidden, and she had pushed all of her hair into the blue beret hat she was wearing, so I can't even describe to you what her hair looks like either. But since she attacked me with a giant paintbrush, I'm guessing she was doing some sort of character transformation?"

"Ah, a formidable enemy has appeared," Kukai whistled, "When someone does a character transformation without the help of the lock, it means they've already realized their potential. It's very difficult to do without the lock or key."

"The key…?" I asked. No one had told me about a 'key'.

"Yes, the dumpty key." A new voice spoke, and we all turned our heads to see the new girl entering the garden. She strolled up the steps casually and plopped herself in the seat next to me, flashing me a sweet smile before she continued.

"Sorry I'm late; I had to go put some clothes in my locker before I came down. I was worried about being late for class, but…"

"No, no it's okay," Tadase reassured her, smiling at her, "We'll excuse your absence. Since it was issued by the guardians, it'll be fine."

"Oh, okay," she turned to me and grinned cockily, resting her head in one palm as she spoke in my direction "So, you did have charas after all. I knew it!"

"And how could you possibly know?"

"Ran and Suu noticed!" As if on cue, a pink cheerleading chara floated in next to Amu, smiling down at her proudly.

"We shugo chara's can sense the presents of other charas, even if their in an egg!" she stated.

"She's right, desu~" a blond chara in a green maids outfit hovered next to Ran, chiming in. "But since your eggs hadn't hatched yet, Amu figured it probably would be best to just wait until later to ask anymore questions."

"Anyway," Amu interrupted the idle chit-chat, "Back to the key. It is the key that unlocks the humpty lock, although no one really knows what gets 'unlocked' once the lock is opened. The only thing that _is _certain is that the lock and key holders are destined for something great. But as to what that is, no one knows."

"So then, where is this key and its holder?" I ventured.

"You're looking at her." Utau said from across the table, pointing at Amu. She nodded as she reached into her pocked and pulled an item – the dumpty key. It had the same design as the lock, gold with a slightly transparent rainbow flower. It dangled on a golden chain, twisted in Amu's delicate fingers.

"Well, now this is getting interesting." I commented, and things truly were finally getting interesting for me.

"Yes! Why don't we try to put the key into the lock right now, just to see what happens?" Kukai suggested, "It didn't fit yesterday when we invited Amu over for a guardians meeting because the lock still didn't have a barer, but now that we've found him, perhaps it will fit."

Tadase and Utau agreed, then we all looked at Amu for her confirmation. "I don't see why not," she shrugged. I set the lock down on the table as she untangled the keys chain from her fingers, putting the key in the right direction before pushing it into the hole. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, there was a short flash of something – it was like a film, but some of it was being fast forwarded, while other moments were slowed down for a split second. Eventually, it slowed to a normal pace at one piece of whatever I was looking at, and I could watch the scene without interruptions.

I watched in an undefined area as Amu – a slightly younger looking version of herself – ran towards an entry door, a pleased smile on her face. She opened it, and squealed with delight as she lunged forward and hugged the person at the door, tears steaming down her face. But they were undeniably happy tears.

"Ami! You're back! You're okay! You're back!!" The person she was hugging looked no less than two or three years younger than her, her eyes were the same unusual honey color as Amu's, and her hair was a light and sandy brown. She hugged Amu back with a similar look of happiness on her face – but something was different about hers. I couldn't place my finger on what it was, but something looked a lot different than the happiness Amu was giving off.

"Big sister…" She mumbled, closing her eyes and beaming. "You missed me?"

Amu pulled back from the hug and nodded intensely, "I did! I'm so sorry Ami, I should have been a better big sister… but now… I can start all over again! I'll make up all these years to you, I promise! I'll be the best big sister ever!" She took her hand as she led Ami into the house.

"That's all I've ever wanted…" Ami whispered as she let herself drag into the house by the hand of her sister.

The door shut, and I came back to reality. Everyone at the table was staring at me curiously, especially Amu, who had a very shocked look on her face.

"Ikuto? Are you okay?" I turned my head to see that Utau had gotten up from her seat and come to my side, a look of worry on her face as she shook my shoulder gently. I answered her question with another question.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"You and Amu spaced out for a minute after the key was put in – but you seemed more dazed than Amu because she snapped back rather quickly."

"Really?"

Utau nodded, "What happened?" I debated on weather or not I should tell everyone that I'd just seen a glimpse of Amu's memories. It seemed like something private – and most people weren't accustomed to the idea of others poking around such a private place of mind.

"I saw a flash back of Amu's memories." I stated calmly, unfazed by the gasps heard from around the table.

"What did you see?!" Amu demanded, standing up in her chair and giving me a look of fright – yep, thought she might not like the idea. Time for plan B.

"Nothing much, just a flash back to a moment when you were taking a bath. And might I say – you're not as flat as I originally imagined, and yet you could still use some improvement in that department." I smirked up at her as her face reddened, she clenched her fists and backed away a bit, sputtering nonsense for a long time before she finally began to make sense.

"Y-y-y-y-y-you what!?!"

"Ought I repeat?"

"Y-you p-pervert! Why would the lock show you something like _that_?!"

"Perhaps it's because it was warning me how much of a terrible singer you are – because you were noticeably singing off key during the flashback."

"What!? Well, maybe the only reason you'd see such a thing is because your mind is so filthy it influenced the flashback you received! A-a-and my voice isn't that bad…!"

"Doubt it. Even if it were true, the fact still remains that you are flat and cannot sing."

"YOU GRIMY PERVY SCUMBAG! I HATE YOU!" She screeched before snatching her bag off of the table and running down the steps, exiting the greenhouse with her charas following after her. After she left, I looked back at my shocked friends faces. Well, two of them at least. Kukai was covering his mouth, trying very hard to not let any laughter escape. Utau was tapping her foot and glaring down at me in disappointment. Tadase, on the other hand, had a shocked blush on his face as he sent me a baffled look. Yoru was seated on the table and made no effort to hide his amusement, rolling around with laughter.

"Oh come on guys, I was obviously lying."

"Why would you lie about something like that!? You just completely humiliated Amu in front of us!" I hadn't thought about it like that, but I still considered this option better than telling everyone what the real memory was.

"Pft, she'll get over it. Besides, the real memory I saw wasn't of the same nature, but at the same time wasn't something to be shared with anyone else. So I have no reason to tell the rest of you." Their expressions turned from shocked too curious, although no questions arose.

"Well, if that's really true, then I suppose this meeting it done for the day." Tadase said, standing up dusting off his shirt a little.

"Oh, but I guess I should go ahead and mention this now – Ikuto," I turned to Kukai, who was addressing me, "Tomorrow, just be prepared. Okay? Because after tomorrow, you can't turn back and there's no saying 'no'!" He grinned and sped out of the greenhouse.

"Hey, wait up Kukai!" Tadase called after him, running after his sporty friend. I watched them sprint out the door before turning too Utau, who had a strange look on her face.

"…What?"

"Ikuto, you're improving!" She patted my head as she spoke, causing me to scowl, "Even though you went about it the wrong way, you still respected her privacy enough to not blurt it out! I'm so proud of you! Now all we have to do is work on the way you go about doing so…"

I batted her hand away, standing up and grabbing my book bag as I started towards the exit of the greenhouse, "Oh, shut up Utau."

She giggled as she followed me, continuing despite my demand. "But you really might want to apologize to her; a girl shouldn't be tampered with like that."

"And how would you know?"

"Because I'm a girl. We know these things."

"Oh, really? Coulda fooled me."

"I'm serious, Ikuto! You should really apologize to her! Do you want her to be like every other girl in school who ignores you because of a false reputation!?"

"Why does it matter if I befriend her or not?"

She glowered slightly at me, "You'll understand why tomorrow." And with that, she turned and headed in the direction of her classroom. I shrugged off the cold feeling she gave off and continued on my path towards my own classroom – not giving a second though to what Utau and Kukai had said, and was now aware of Yoru still following me.

"Ikuto, nya…"

"What."

"I'm really worried about that egg that's gone missing."

"We have more important things to worry about," I dodged the subject of my x egg; I didn't want to talk or think about it right now. Perhaps if I didn't think about it or grew to dislike what it represented more, then maybe it would disappear forever. I hoped that was what would happen, because after I thought about it I realized what it represented, and wanted nothing to do with it.

Baking.

An egg that represented such a hated part of my life would be better off gone, at least, that was what I thought. I knew the others wouldn't think this was so, which is why I didn't even bother telling them I already knew what it represented. For me, baking and cooking was hopeless. That went without question.

"B-but it's a part of you! It's important, de nya!"

I continued ignoring this aspect of the conversation, "Well, you hatched before it, meaning you're already more important than the little dud. What do you represent, anyway?"

His eyes widened a bit in delight – had he been waiting for me to ask him this?

"I represent you're wish to be free, nya! Just like a cat!"

I threw a mocking stare at him, "Since when does being free have to do with cats or kinky kitty outfits like the one you put me in earlier? With so much skin showing… I'm lucky no one saw me in it! So many rumors would fly."

He glared at me, insulted. "Hey, I don't get to pick what our character transformation look like! It's all based on you! So I guess you're just a pervert in whatever stage you're in, de nya."

"O-oi! I'm not like that!"

"Sure, sure, and what happened with Amu wasn't _anything_ of the sort."

"Well, – "

"ANYWAY! Cat's are free, especially ally cats! They go where they wish and do what they want without anyone else's digression, which is why I represent freedom in a cat form!"

"Whatever," I mumbled as I pushed my way into the classroom, the teacher not asking any questions about my lateness. I took a guess and figured that Tadase and Kukai had already taken care of that. As I strolled over to my seat, I spared a glance at Amu. She had been leering at me, but the moment I turned my head in her direction she blushed and concentrated on the oh-so interesting desk she was sitting at. I smirked. But I knew.

Yep. I was going to have to find a way to apologize.

~Nya.~

The rest of the day before had gone by rather smoothly, accept during cooking class when Amu was deliberately ignoring me and trying her best not to look my way, making it difficult to find a good time to explain everything to her. So I just waited until I could find the perfect moment to sneak up on her, at a time when she couldn't run away.

That time came when everyone was heading home. Somehow, Amu was the last to leave to leave the class, meaning she was also the last to grab her stuff and swap her shoes at the cubbies. That was when I took action.

As she sat on the single step that separated the school from the cubbies, I casually sat beside her as she was changing her shoes, putting on a bored expression as she ignored me. I knew she wasn't going to start the conversation, so I went ahead and took the plunge. I scooted a little closer, my breath rolling down her neck as I whispered in her ear…

"_I lied."_

And that set her off. She jumped up into the air screaming, backing away from the direction she heard my voice come from. I watched in amusement as she scooted all the way towards a nearby pole, clutching it with all her might. She looked sincerely shocked as she shuddered against the poll.

"W-w-what the heck Ikuto!? Don't sneak up on me like that!"

I blinked. So, did this mean that she had not been ignoring me, but instead, merely hadn't noticed I was there? Quite slow…

"I didn't sneak up on you; you just didn't notice me while I sat next to you for a whole minute or so."

Her face reddened a bit with embarrassment, I suppressed laughter.

"W-w-well, I still hate you, so just leave me alone." After putting on her second shoe, she stood up and prepared to leave.

"But don't you want to know what I really saw?" She froze, and slowly turned around, her expression changing to a serious one. Hook line and sinker.

"What do you mean?"

"I said I lied. That wasn't the real memory I saw, but I figured it was too personal to announce to the rest of the guardians so I made something up."

She frowned. "So you instead made up a lie about seeing a memory of me in the bathtub? How is that better!?" I shifted my eyes a little, smiling a bit.

"Weeell, it was the first lie that came to mind…"

"Pervert."

"Oh, just shut up already."

"So what did you really see?" She plopped back down next to me, and I assumed I was forgiven. Good. Now I didn't have to say sorry.

"Hmm, should I really tell you?" I teased her with the bit of information for a second; enjoying the power I might have over her. But I wasn't expecting her reply.

"Yes, you should, because if you don't tell me right now I won't tell you the memory I saw of you either." She crossed her arms and spit out her tongue, which was a very healthy pink. Now this was interesting. So the lock and key had exchanged our memories for a moment? This might be troublesome if she knew too much. What if my love for the violin or other facts of my life were exposed? She was new at school, and no one knew about her. She could be the big-mouth type… but then, perhaps the safest way of making sure she didn't tell anyone what she was with a threat.

"Deal," I agreed, shrugging carelessly. "I saw your memory of when you seemed to be reunited with your little sister or something. Rather touching." A look of alarm crossed her face, and she stood up.

"Y-you saw that?" She asked, panicky. I nodded quizzically.

She stood up and put on a grave expression, giving me an insolent stare. "You love the music, mostly the violin. Your sister plays the piano and sings. You're not allowed to do any of the three because your father doesn't approve either for an unknown reason. Last night, he broke your violin. And you hate baking for various reasons," She backed away as my eyes widened a bit – she knew so much. _Too _much, even.

"Now that we're even, don't ever utter a single word about what you saw in my memory. Forget you ever saw it!"

I scoffed, "You know a lot more about me than I know about you! It's not like your memory was anything compared to what you know about me, so what's with that attitude!?"

She was silent as she turned around wordlessly, her back now facing me. I waited for her to speak, and she finally did after a long moment of quiet.

"Your memories are nothing compared to mine. You think your life sucks? If you do, then you know nothing about life. That memory you saw was one of my most precious ones for reasons you'll never understand… and it shouldn't be that way. So don't complain to me about your petty violin issues and family problems."

"Petty? You must not understand much, seeing as my issues are not 'petty'. Perhaps you just don't understand what it means to have something you care about constantly out of reach." I shot back at her calmly, not moving an inch from my seat on the single step.

"I know that better than anyone." She muttered coldly before running off, out the school doors and through the school gates. I didn't try to stop her, I didn't want too. It wasn't worth it.

Because from that one conversation, I knew we could never understand each other.

~Nya.~

As the rest of that day had gone by, I couldn't stop myself from wondering what Amu had meant by everything she said. Recapping the events, I realized that she obviously had a very mysterious aura about her. Not only that, but Yoru had told me he sensed negative energy coming from her. I wondered what that meant.

I couldn't understand why she said she 'knew that better than anyone'. In the small glimpse of memories I saw, she was happy. So why didn't she want to share that moment with anyone? It seemed like a joyous thing to be reunited with a sibling. I wouldn't really know, Utau and I had always been together, never having more than a week's separation at a time. Perhaps the time period before her reunion had been long enough to leave a scar. But shouldn't such a scar be healed if her sister eventually came back? Then again, Amu did look a bit younger in the flashback. Perhaps something else happened to her after that.

All these thoughts whirled around in my head as I stared blankly ahead at the stage. I was at an assembly, the guardian assembly that Utau had told me would occur two days prior. I wasn't really paying attention to them though; I was too busy trying to figure out Amu. She was seated next to me, looking extremely nervous. I questioned if it was because we had that argument yesterday and she didn't feel comfortable being around me, but that seemed a little weird. I decided to give the thought a rest and turned my attention to the guardian's assembly again.

"… and that is why, opposite day will no longer be expelled from the schools activities." Tadase was saying, "Now for our final bit of news. We guardians are very excited to announce that the guardian's council will no longer consist of only the three of us. We will now declare our final two members. The first will be the new ace of the guardians, Amu Hinamori!"

A cheer flew through the crowd with such swiftness that it almost startled me. Almost. Amu looked positively angry and buried her head in her hands as the people around her shouted various things like –

"Oh my gosh! I knew it; cool and spicy Amu Hinamori was the obvious choice to be the next ace!"

"I know, she obviously has some sort of factor that the guardians are looking for."

"Exactly! I knew she was special from the first day she arrived!"

I glanced over at Amu again, who still had her hands buried in her palms. 'Cool and Spicy?' Who came up with that load of crap? Amu was more like 'Flustered and Flat,' or something of the sort, if you asked me. No where near 'spicy' at all.

As the volume in the auditorium died down, Tadase continued as he announced the next member of the guardians.

"And the joker of the guardians will be none other than Ikuto Tsukiyomi!" A hush fell over the crowd, and I just nodded. _'Of course, of course.' _I wasn't really paying attention. _'Why wouldn't I be?'_

"IKUTO SAMAAAAA! CONGRADULATIONS!!"

'_Wait, what did Tadase just say!?'_

"How did the prince of seduction gain such a chair!?"

"No clue!"

"He must've convinced his sister to let him in or somethin'."

"Must've."

Wait, people still called me that? That was the first time I'd heard that title all year! Why couldn't people just drop it and leave me alone!?

Wait, so yeah, I was a joker now. What…

"Wait, what!?"

* * *

**Alex's notes: **And that's how this one ends. Amu's got issues, and Ikuto's problems suddenly feel trivial.

Well, I went over my outline and decided to merge some chapters. So now, this story is going to be two chapters less than it would have been! xD Not a big issues though, it's only to make some of the chapters longer. 'Cause we all love long chapters. ~Squee~

So yes, this chapter raised _a lot _of questions, I'm positive. But fear not, for every question in this story will be answered at some point. Remember, I already have every speck and event all planned. –Evil grin- So don't worry. All confusion will be cleared. And lol, the name of this chapter is so out of character for me... I normally wouldn't do it, because I've a lot of inhibition. But I thought Ikuto might, so meh.

OH! And I'm going to Great America tomorrow. :D YAAAY! I'm skippen school, haha. xD I feel like such a bad child. :[ I'm normally the goody-goody… but my mom said it's okay, heck, she practically encouraged me! So that makes it okay. :3 I lerv me mommeh… she's so cool.

Well, thank you for reading! Now, **Review please!**


	4. The musician’s comeback!

**Alex's Notes:** _Sorry it took so long, but I was sick until Wednesday last week from Saturday, and had two papers to write. One down, one to go. Once again, I apologize for the wait. :[_

_This chapter is long and rather dull, IMO, but the next chapter is where the story _truly_ begins. This chapter was just needed for some development and space between events. Again, sorry about the dullness, but I hope you enjoy this one anyway! We'll get through this rising action soon enough! It might be riddled with a few spelling/grammar mistakes, but I'll go over it fix them later. Promise. I really wanted to release this though. x_X  
_

_Oh, and Great America was fun. If you people go ever go to the one in California, make sure you ride Survivor! That one was my favorite._

**Disclaimer: I do not own Shugo Chara! Peach Pit does.**

* * *

_The Miracle Swap_

_Chapter 4: The musician's comeback!_

I found myself once again in the Guardian's garden, seated in the same seat I had been in a day prior. But the only difference was my mood, which was not a good one as I scowled down at the tea cup place in front of me at the table. I listened to Amu protest about becoming the new Ace, and Utau was _not _having that.

"…and I already said no two days ago!"

"Yeah, well, we're the Guardians, and we said so, meaning you must. You're going to be the Ace. And you're going to like it."

"B-but…"

"I will tolerate zero 'buts', Amu."

The moment after I was chosen to be the Joker had been hectic for me. Amu and I were called up to the stage, and I had to walk through large lanes of people who were either congratulating me or staring after me with great suspicion, whispering to their friends as they did so. Whichever it was didn't matter to me, I shot anyone who said a single word a glare of oppression. This little announcement was definitely not something I saw coming, nor was it something I would have looked forward too if I knew it would happen. I didn't pay much attention to Amu; I was too busy seething with anger as I marched up the steps to the stage to care. I followed the Guardians behind the curtain, Tadase dismissing the assembly swiftly before following the rest of us. I said nothing to them as we made our way out the back door; I was too busy calculating how I was going to reject their offer without giving them a chance to object. Amu, however, had other plans.

"What is the meaning of this!? I already rejected your offer two days ago!" She began with lots of screaming and reckless yelling, and although I didn't know her all too well, I could just tell that this was the way she handled most things.

"We told you we'd get you to join, one way or another!" Kukai explained, grinning despite Amu's obvious oppose to the idea of becoming the Ace. "This is just one of our methods. When it comes to who is chosen to be in what chair, we have no power over changing the decision! Weather or not you agreed wouldn't have mattered, you would have been forced to join our council anyway."

"But what about what _I _want!? I don't have time for something like this! I have a lot of important things to handle at home!" She objected, her expression turning into one of unhappiness rather than anger.

Utau spoke, curt and serious. "You'll just have too find time."

"What!"

"Need I replicate?"

"That's not what I meant!"

After that point of the conversation, I assumed it was no use listening to it any further, and went back to my own thoughts. What exactly could I say to convince them not to let me be the new Joker? Utau seemed too busy with Amu at the moment to even pay attention, so I focused on the two others members of the Guardians who might be easier to crack. Tadase… would be easier than Utau, yet more difficult than Kukai. Which meant Kukai would be the easiest to convince.

Oh, the reason why Kukai was the easiest to convince? Well, let's just say I have some 'embarrassing photos' of him during a soccer game from quite awhile back, but would still do the trick. Of course, I would never really blackmail anyone, but Kukai might be gullible enough to believe me if it's something as dire as a picture of his pants being ripped as an opposing team member misses the soccer ball and kicks _him _by mistake. That might do the trick. But what if that didn't work…?

Unable to think of much else, I decided I'd go ahead and try the first plan, and if it failed, then… well, then, I would just be out of luck.

I tuned back into Utau and Amu's conversation – my first thought upon hearing it being _'what did I just miss…?'_

"… and then we have to cremate her in the fireplace and give her a funeral in her favorite shoebox! That's why I don't have time for this stupid counsel!" Amu was yelling, an absolutely serious look on her face. Utau didn't look stunned by this comment, nor did Kukai and Tadase. I must've missed something, since this statement sounded a little weird to me.

"Amu, just tell her to push it to the weekend or something. It's not even _real_. Do you really need a funeral for such a thing!?" Came Utau's reply, her arms crossed and her expression of equal seriousness.

"It isn't that simple! I can't just tell her that, we've already planned a funeral on that day!"

"Who in their right mind would come to a dolls funeral!?"

"According to Ami, her friends."

Utau scoffed slightly before responding, "Fine, you can miss your Guardian duties on that day. But you still have to be the Ace, there's no way out of it."

Amu's expression softened a bit as she contemplated on this, and then nodded contently as she took her seat again. I suppose now was my time to object to my own chair in the Guardians.

"Utau – "

"No." I blinked. How did she know what I was going to say!?

"But,"

"Don't care; you have Guardian Characters _and_ you're the holder of the lock, so you have to be in the Guardians anyway."

"Well, I have – "

"Already found them in your room the other day. I burned them."

I blinked again. Darn that twin telepathy thing! She must be using it somehow or something, how else would she know where I hid those pictures!? Or what I was about to say… irritating. I huffed and glared in the other direction, knowing there was no way I could get myself out of this now.

She smirked evilly in satisfaction, "Now that that's settled, the reason why you were chosen to be the last two members of the guardians is because you have guardian characters. That is the requirement for joining, but we can't go around telling people that because they'd think we're odd."

"Yep, since other people can't see guardian characters unless they have one themselves or know about them, it would be quite impossible to explain the requirement to anyone. But that's not important right now. What's important is –"

"_HEY _wait!" Amu suddenly interrupted, a look of alarm on her face, "Do I have to wear a cape!?"

"Well, they _are _part of being a Guardian." Kukai pointed out.

"But they look so lame! Their not my style at all."

"I'll have to agree with Amu on this one," I spoke up, because I wasn't going to wear the stupid capes either. "They look repulsive. Who wears capes anymore, honestly? I wouldn't be caught dead in one of those."

"See?" Amu pointed at me, "Ikuto agrees with me! We'll join your council, but under the condition that we can refuse to wear the capes!" Since when did I give her permission to speak on my behalf? I didn't even want to join the council! But either way, I agreed with her on the whole cape thing, so I didn't object to what she was saying.

"FINE!" Tadase shouted, going into another one of his random rages of kingliness. He always did that when he was interrupted. "Just let me finish!" Amu silenced herself at once, and he cleared his throat before continuing.

"As I was saying, we have some important business to attend too. There are three main reasons for the Guardian council's existence. The first, lifting harsh school rules from the students. And the second is containing and purifying any x-eggs that may appear. And the last, if not one of the most important, is monitoring Easter."

"Easter?" I asked. I'd heard of the company before. They did a lot of miscellaneous jobs, like music, merchandising, and other random stuff. Why would we need to 'monitor' them?

"Oh, right. I forgot you just got your Charas yesterday." Tadase replied, beginning his explanation. "As we told you yesterday, x-eggs are created when their holder no longer believes in them or wants them. X-eggs then have the potential to hatch into a Punishment Chara. A Punishment Chara is a warped version of the person's original wish or dream, and they are extremely dangerous. It's our job to purify the eggs before they can hatch cause any damage." He paused a moment while I digested this.

"This brings us to our issues concerning Easter. Lately, they've been getting in the way of our purification process. The adults in Easter have somehow discovered that Charas exist, and can see them. They've even created technology that can turn someone's unborn egg into an x-character, and once they do that, they steal the egg. We have yet to discover why they are collecting them, so in the mean time we can only try to purify them as fast as Easter is grabbing them."

"And how do you go about purifying them?" Amu asked.

"That's where I come in!" Kukai shouted excitingly. "So far, I've been the only one out of the three of us who can do a character transformation. If you can do a character transformation, it's very easy to purify them in that for rather than if you were in a character change mode."

Okay, he lost me. "I get the whole transformation thing, but…character change?"

Kukai blinked. "Oooh, that's right. You've only done a character transformation, huh? It's rather unusual that you went straight to transformations instead of going through a character change first." He leaned back in his seat and relaxed his head on his hands before continuing. "A character change is the lesser version of a character transformation. It doesn't hold as much power, but it's still rather efficient. When going through a character change, you can experience a personality change, physical strength change, or special abilities."

"For example," Amu's pink Guardian Character, Ran, floated up to me. Odd, since I didn't notice her there before. But then again, I tend to forget about them, especially Yoru because he doesn't know how to shut up, which causes me to ignore him. "When Amu does a character change with me, she becomes more honest and athletic!" She waved her pompoms around, as though the thought of a character change filled her with hype.

"And when she does a character change with me," Suu chimed in, "She becomes kinder, girly, and is a better at cooking!"

Amu crossed her arms at this, pouting as she spoke. "It's not like I'm not already girly, Suu!"

"Well, you still have a ways to go on cooking, desu!"

"Bah!" She threw her hands up in the air in protest.

"Hmmm…" Yoru rose up from the table and grinned evilly at me, "I wonder what would happen if I did a character change with Ikuto…"

"I'll pass on finding out. If it's anything like our transformation, I want no part of it."

"Ran wants to see!"

"Suu wants to see!"

"I wanna see too!" Amu raised her hand in agreement and smiled sheepishly at me. For some strange reason, I suddenly felt a tiny urge to comply with their requests at the sight of her smile, but I still had the will too stand my ground against the idea.

"No."

"Nyaaa, please, Ikuto!? Just this one time!"

"No."

"But, it's nothing like the character change!"

"No."

"Don't be such a stick in the mud, Ikuto!" Amu said, siding with Yoru."

"…No."

"Oh fine then whatever! I'm doing it anyway. Character change, NYA!" there was a short _*pop!*_ noise before I suddenly felt a difference. My hearing and scent senses suddenly became a lot more acute, and although I wasn't moving, could feel I had a better reflex system than before. I glanced around the table, and the other guardians were giving me shocked stares.

"What is it this time?" I received a reply of silence from them, until Kukai started snickering slightly. He did this for about five seconds before bursting into a fit of laughter, Tadase and Utau just continued staring, and Amu's expression was unreadable.

"Ikuto," she said after no one bothered to tell me what Kukai was laughing at, "Touch your head."

Frowning, I obeyed and touched the top of my head lightly. At first, I couldn't feel anything out of the ordinary because the first touch had been at the center of my head. I slowly moved my fingers through my scalp until I reached an odd lump on my head – which I felt twitch slightly at contact.

"If this is what I think it is…"

"Ikuto, you look like a cosplayer!" Amu exclaimed, pointing at the new set of ears on my head. I hated hearing that.

"Shut up!"

"She's right though," Utau mumbled, "You do." Even my own twin sister was joining in on the 'poke at Ikuto' fun… goody.

"Can't we just get back on topic!?" I suggested, Yoru ending the character change, a look of satisfaction on his face as he sat next to my untouched cup of tea. Tadase agreed wholeheartedly and continued as I wondered if their discussions were always interrupted this often.

"As I was saying, Easter is getting in the way of our purification. They've been making more x-eggs than we can keep up with, and since Ikuto can character transform, then that sheds a little light on our situation."

"I can too, you know…" Amu mumbled, looking a bit annoyed.

"You can?"

"Yeah…"

"Perfect!" Kukai stood up in his seat, "If that's the case, then I think we should all go on a hunt for some x-eggs! We can test out your skills!"

"Sounds like a good idea," Tadase approved, "Amu-chan, have you ever purified an egg before?" She nodded. "Well then, why don't you and Ikuto pair up and search today after school, while me, Utau, and Kukai group up and search elsewhere?"

"Works for me."

"I don't really feel like it…" I stopped my protest when I noticed Utau's hard stare, "but I guess I have no choice."

"Well then, that settles it! Let's get back to class now." Tadase dismissed the meeting, and we all began our way back to class at our own pace. I packed up my stuff and Yoru slipped into my backpack, going in his egg as he rested next to the unhatched one. I walked down the few steps of the greenhouse and out the door, to discover Amu was there. Had she been waiting for me…?

She was leaning up one of the wall of the greenhouse, staring off into space. Curious to as of why she was just standing there, I walked up next to her and waved my hand in her face.

"Hellooo?"

She jumped up in fright, then spun around towards the opposite direction my voice came from, sputtering nonsense. Once she came to a stop, she quickly turned around again, her previous calm and dazed expression replaced with an angry one.

"Why do you keep doing that?!"

"Doing what?"

"Come up behind me and freak'n me out!"

I smirked and shrugged, "I wasn't trying to startle you that time, you just weren't paying attention and I tried to get your awareness. I was _trying _to tell you that we might get in trouble if we arrive later than Kukai and Tadase, buuuut since you don't want my help I just remember next time too…"

"Okay, okay! I get the point! I'm going, sheesh…" and with that, we the what was soon to become our daily trot to class together. We walked in silence for a long time as a large wave of awkwardness came over us. Or, more specifically Amu, since I was able to stay calm the whole time. She on the other hand, fidgeted with her book bag and was noticeably trying to look everywhere but my direction. She was failing miserably. When we turned the last corner in the school hallway that led to our classroom, she suddenly came to a stop before reaching the door, and I halted as well to see what she was up too.

Her honey colored eyes were cast to the ground slightly, her pink hair hanging over her shoulders, and she had a slight tint of pink on her cheeks as she lightly tapped the tip of one foot into the linoleum repeatedly. With her fingers twined delicately behind her back, she glanced up at me shyly and frowned a bit.

"Ummm…"

"What?"

"Well. Um…"

I wasn't really in the mood for her speech impairment or whatever she had, so I cut to the chase. "Spit it out, I don't have all day."

She perked up a bit at this and straightened her posture, the small tint of pink turning into an outright blush.

"W-w-well, never mind, it's not that important I guess! I'll just tell you later! I have something important to take care of after school, so wait for by the greenhouse after school." I raised an eyebrow as she sped passed me, charging into our classroom at full speed. I heard a loud _bam_,and then laughter from our classmates. Strolling into the classroom, I discovered she had tripped over practically nothing and caused her desk to topple over on her. I merely chuckled as I pulled the desk off of her and offered her a hand up, which she swatted away and stood up herself, her face flushed with embarrassment. Shrugging, I went to my seat and sat down; barely listening to the lesson once I had done so.

As I stared out the window, I came to realize something strange about myself. Something in my behavior the moment prior to the moment before had been off, and even _I _didn't notice it until after the fact. Why was it, that when our teacher had fallen on the second day of school, I hadn't bothered to help him, but when Amu fell, I felt the need to offer her a hand?

After pondering about this, I dismissed it as simply a reflex. After all, when Nikaidou sensei fell, I wasn't right next to him, but when Amu fell, I just so happened to be right there. It was just a normal impulse. Despite the fact that no one else had offered her a hand up when she fell, and were all instead laughing at her, it was still just a normal reaction.

Right?

~Nya.~

Home economics had been humiliating for me, and hilarious to others. As I've mentioned before, there are very few girls in my class this year. There are only three – Amu, Rima Mashiro, and Yaya Yuiki. Yaya and Rima were two girls that I would like to classify as "The very, very smart type," because they never paid any mind to me whatsoever, and probably went out of their way to do so. Not that I cared. I just noticed.

We had a fairly large portion of food to make today – one large pizza with tons of toppings, meaning we would need a group of at least four people to make it. At first, the plan was for me, Kukai, Tadase, and Amu to all be in one group, but the teacher announced that he would randomly place us in different groups. The result being of me, Amu, Rima, and Yaya.

"I'm _not _working with this guy." Rima declared once we had gotten to our station, and Yaya nodded with agreement. I simply smirked and leaned up against the window as I sat on its sill, prepared to sit and do nothing as they did the work for me.

"Who said he'd be cooking?" Amu asked, hands on her hips with a knife poking out of one of her fists as she did so. "He's going to be the cleaning boy."

"Cleaning boy? What's with that diminutive name!?" I demanded. Oh sure, I wouldn't mind cleaning. I was quite terrible at cooking, I admit to my flaw! But to give me such a name was far to insulting for me to withstand.

"Well, it's what you are," Amu replied, a smug look on her face, "You're a boy, and you're going to clean. Therefore, you are a cleaning boy. The name suits you perfectly. _Cleaning boy_." She put emphasis on the name, and I soon found myself scowling at her. What happened to the cuter, blushing girl I was speaking to earlier!? This version of Amu was so rude, uncute, and irksome!

"Why can't I have a name like… like -"

"Ikuto the living bounty paper towel!" Yaya interrupted me suddenly, raising her hands into the air in excitement.

"That's even better Yaya!" Amu agreed, smiling at the noisy girl. "From this day forward, Ikuto will be 'Bounty boy!'"

"That's even worse!"

"RIMA!" Amu ignored me and turned to the blond, whose expression was a mocking one as she glanced in my direction. "You will make the sauce! And Yaya, you will cut the veggies. I'll make the dough for the pizza." She turned to me and added – "And you will do nothing unless we hand you a dish that needs to be cleaned. _Bounty boy_."

I unfortunately didn't have time to protest, because as soon as that final word left her lips all three of them began their work. They went through dishes and utensils very quickly, and I was kept busy as I listened to their laughter and idle girly chit-chat. The irritating thing was, every time someone had something new dish to be cleaned, they would yell something like 'Yoo-hoo, Bounty boy~', resulting in an eruption of laughter from the classroom. What was even more humiliating was that I had to actually _come_ when they called. But it was well worth it, since their pizza came out great and we received an A+. The girls left the class together, laughing and joking around as they did so. I grabbed my stuff and went straight to the cubbies, swapping my shoes before heading to the greenhouse to wait for Amu. I waited for quite awhile, and in the end, wound up leaning against the wall of an area that was a hidden from the entrance of the garden as I awaited her arrival.

After waiting for about fifteen minutes, I finally heard Amu's voice as she approached. She was talking with her Charas – and there was one other voice I didn't recognize. Before revealing where I was, I decided to be nosy and eavesdrop on their conversation. I peaked from behind the slightly hidden wall of the greenhouse I was standing behind, and saw something interesting.

"You know you really shouldn't feel bad though, Amu!" A blue Chara was hovering near Amu, she wore a light blue beret hat and a black shirt with light blue sleeves, along with dark blue hands and brown boots. That color scheme looked strikingly similar too the girl who stole my x-egg before… but I wasn't going to point fingers. There were a lot of coincidences in this world, and this could be one of them.

"Miki, you know I can't help it."

"But this isn't helping! If you continue doing things like this, you'll only get worse!"

"Don't worry so much Miki. I'm only doing something like this one time, and then I won't do it for anyone else. I promise!" The little blue Chara didn't seem convinced, and eyed Amu skeptically. "Fine, do what you want! But keep your promise this time, Amu! I worry about you, you know… you'll never get better if -"

"No need to worry Miki! I'll be fine, so stop worrying!" Miki still had a look of unease on her face, but nodded and went back into her egg, Amu catching her before she fell to the ground.

"Miki _is _right though Amu. But Suu and I trust that you'll be careful. Right Suu?" Ran turned to Suu who nodded enthusiastically.

"Thanks guys…" She smiled at her Charas before turning around, looking across the field. "Now all we have to do is wait for Ikuto to get here..."

That was my cue. I stood up and strolled casually from my hiding place, my hands casually in my pockets as I pretended I heard nothing. My appearance must've fooled her, because she turned around without any look of alarm in her expression.

"You kept me waiting!" Who was she to talk!? I've been waiting fifteen minutes for her to arrive!

"Teacher asked me to help put up some P.E equipment." I lied, but it was believable since I was walking from the direction of the P.E shed. "What's with the blue egg?"

Amu yelped and stuffed the egg into her book bag, seeming to have forgotten to hide it from me. "It's an egg that was born at the same time as Suu and Ran, but it never hatched. So I keep it with me incase it ever does."

Why was she lying about Miki? I racked my brain for a moment, but couldn't think up a logical explanation to as of why she'd be lying about her own Guardian Character. Perhaps it represented an embarrassing would-be-self?

"Oh. How long have you had them?" I asked, changing the subject so not to raise suspicion. She pondered about this for a moment before replying, counting her fingers slowly.

"Well, I'm sixteen now so I guess I've had them for about six or seven years." I suddenly felt a bit late in bloom. Why was _I_ the last to receive a Guardian? I'd have to ask when Utau received Iru and Eru next time I saw her…

"Anyway," she cleared her throat, "Before we go hunt down any x-eggs, I um… have something I want to say…"

"Yeah?" I didn't feel like going through another one of her "um" and "err" sessions again, so I tried to rush her.

"But first we need to go to my house." My jaw dropped ever so slightly.

"You expect me to do what?"

"It's not that far away! Stop complaining!"

"Why!?"

"Because there's something there that I need to pick up!"

"And just _how_ far away is your house, exactly?"

"Less than ten minutes. We would have been a fourth of the way there by now if you just shut up and started walking…"

I sighed. "Is it really so important that it can't wait?"

Her eyes flashed, and she suddenly became very angry. "_YES, _it _is._ Now just shut up and come on, I mean seriously, is ten minutes of your time that much to ask for!?" I opened my mouth to retort, but she continued –

"Or maybe you're just too _cool_ to hang out with me for a mere hour or so for our assignment, since you're the 'prince of seduction' and all; I must not be enough of a person to be in your presence!"

Okay, where did _that_ come from? I had barely said anything rude and she was suddenly going off on me! What was _wrong _with this girl!? And how did she learn about my title!? Hardly anyone had called me by that all week! Instead of yelling back at her, I simply frowned and said nothing. Loosing my cool and becoming angry wouldn't help the situation. I glanced at Amu's Chara's, and they all had a look of fear on their face. Was this behavior unusual for Amu or something?

"Amu-chan, calm down!" Ran yelled, batting Amu with one of her pompoms.

"I knew this would happen…" Suu mumbled miserably. I raised an eyebrow.

"You did?" She quickly denied that she 'knew' it would happen, saying that Amu was upset about something that happened recently and hadn't meant what she'd said. Amu merely huffed and began walking toward the school gate. Sighing, I decided I really did have nothing better to do, so I followed her – making sure to keep a good distance between us.

We walked in silence as she led me through a district I'd never taken the time to explore before – it was a new area of town, and all the houses were freshly built. I never bothered coming down this part of town because I knew it would only have residents I'd never met before, and therefore didn't care about.

Once we arrived at her house, she pulled out some keys and unlocked the door, inviting me in with a calmer tone than before. I stepped inside and slipped out of my shoes, taking a seat on the couch as Amu had instructed me to do as she ran up to her room.

I glanced around the house, fascinated with being in a home that wasn't mine. Although Tadase and Kukai were my friends, I rarely ever went to their houses or anything, so being here was a rather nice change. I'd been to Kotone's house many times in the past though – it was only recently that I'd stopped visiting. Speaking of Kotone, I hadn't seen her around very much since Tuesday. I wondered what she was up too…

"Okay." I hadn't heard Amu come back downstairs, and was taken by surprise when she suddenly appeared in front of my and dropped a large case onto my lap. I gave her a look of confusion, and she scowled.

"Just open it already! It's yours!"

I smirked. "You mean, like a present?"

"It's whatever you want to call it."

I continued smirking as I popped open the square case – _almost_ gasping when I saw what was inside.

"This… this is for me?"

"Who else would it be for?"

"But why would you give me a violin…?" Upon closer inspection, I realized it was the exact same violin I had before, looking good as new. There wasn't a single sign of damage anywhere on the instrument, and it still had that new silver shine to its frame.

"This is supposed to be shattered, how did you fix this?"

Amu scratched the back of her head modestly, "Well, that's kind of hard to explain…"

"Then I guess you'd better start right now."

Suu answered for her – "Amu used a character transformation with me and we used remake honey to fix it! That attack has the power to fix almost anything, desu!"

"And how did you find it?"

"I saw where your dad put it when I saw some of your memories… although it wasn't actually _in_ your memories; I was somehow able to see it anyway."

"Hm," I looked down at the violin again. "Very interesting. So then, why?"

"W-w-well!" Amu suddenly blushed an unbelievable shade of red and avoided my gaze. I mentally slapped myself when I found myself admiring how cute she looked when she did that. "I thought I was really rude… yesterday…" Oh, that's what she was apologizing for? Thinking back, I had actually forgotten about the conversation momentarily. This was quite a way to apologize to someone, that's for sure. She should get angry and feel guilty more often. I'd probably benefit from it a lot.

"And I wanted too…" Ran suddenly floated up beside Amu, who still seemed to have trouble speaking, a mischievous look on her face.

"Looks like Amu needs a push! Character chaaaaange!" A red heart suddenly appeared on her head, and her face went blank for a moment.

Then, she acted very out of character as opposed to her normal personality.

"Yes! I'm actually really sorry Ikuto, I didn't mean to call your problems trivial, I was just upset! I hope you'll forgive me, because I really would like to hear you play the violin sometime – I love your music!" That last part seemed a bit random, but whatever. I went along with the conversation as casually as I could without grinning much, but it was proving difficult.

"Oh really? You like the way I play?" There had only been three people who'd heard me play and approved of it, so this was an interesting development.

"Yeah, and I also really -" Her character change suddenly came to an end with Ran, with the little pink cheerleader giggling manically.

"_RAN!_" Amu stomped over to her and grabbed her sturdily. Despite Amu's attempt at strangling her own guardian, Ran continued to laugh uncontrollably through chokes. It was actually really entertaining to watch.

"You really…?" I asked once she'd given up on suffocating Ran.

"Really what?"

"You said, 'Yeah, and I also really…'"

She crossed her arms and lifted her head snootily – "I-it's not important! Let's just get out of here…" she trailed off at the sound of the front door unlocking. I instantly wondered if that was a bad thing – what if it was an overprotective father of hers or something? I really wasn't in the mood for that right now. But instead of some overprotective father, a brunette with glasses rounded the corner into the living room carrying a shopping bag, her eyes suddenly widening at the sight of Amu and I. I glanced over to Amu, and noticed she had an extremely cross look on her face.

"Amu-chan, is this your friend...?" She woman asked as she smiled warily in my direction – I immediately noticed a look of apprehension on her face. But I could tell that apprehensive look on her face wasn't for me – it was for Amu. I then assumed she was Amu's mother after noticing her eyes were the same unusual shade of honey as hers.

"Yes, he is, Mama." Amu grumbled, using a noticeably forced tone. She suddenly grabbed my wrist and pulled me out of the living room, leaving me with barely any time to grab the violin and bow – forcing me to leave the case. "We're leaving now."

"Ah - but – wait, Amu-chan!" Her mom called after her, following us to the entry way. Amu ignored her as she continued to the door, grabbing both pairs of our shoes and shoving me out the door.

"Amu-chan…?" Her mom asked softly, the hurt evident in her voice.

"We were just leaving. I'll be back soon, don't worry about it." Amu said curtly before closing the door behind her on her mother, slipping on her shoes with shocking speed. "Geez, Ikuto, you're so slow! Get your shoes on already!" Her tone immediately returned to its happy, cheerful euphoria – so fast that it was almost scary. I simply frowned as I finished up putting on my own shoes, and followed Amu down the path that led to the sidewalk.

"We should hurry to the park so that we can start our search for the x-eggs," She said upidly.

"Sure, but,"

"And another thing! Take better care of your violin; I can't fix it every time to screw up!"

"Amu, what was up with that?"

She looked up at me as we continued walking toward the direction of the park, a look of confusion on her face. "What do you mean?"

"You were awfully curt with mother just now…" I put rather bluntly. Perhaps I shouldn't have been poking in another's business, but with Amu, I had been doing that so much lately that it no longer seemed to matter. She casted her gaze down slightly, a small look of frustration in her expression.

"She deserves whatever's coming to her." She put simply, bitterly even, causing my curiosity to grow suddenly. I raised an eyebrow and she sighed, rolling her eyes at me.

"She doesn't matter. She's not important."

We were getting no where with this conversation. Time to change the subject, but only slightly. "So, does your Dad work late or something? He didn't seem to be home."

"He's been gone for ten years." Great, that didn't help much. Way to go Ikuto, you're just spewing positive topics today!

"Interesting."

"Not really."

Silence.

And there was quiet for a long time, until we reached the park. We had been told to meet Kukai, Tadase, and Utau there, but it didn't look as though anyone had shown up yet. Just as I was I was preparing to suggest we go home since no one was coming, Kukai came running down the path of the park at full speed, his guardian character Daichi following him effortlessly despite his rapidity.

"Amu! Ikuto!" He called as he ran; stopping without catching his breath once he'd reached us. "Utau and Tadase went off somewhere else to look, and they said they'd call us if they found anything, so I've decided to stay with the rookies for today!" Rookies…? Well, whatever. Having Kukai around would be much better than being stuck with the moody pinkquette standing next to me.

"Works for me." I shrugged.

"Same," Amu complied. And with that, the three of us began to wander around the park together. It started off with just us being rather silent for some reason, but Kukai broke the ice once he'd taken Amu on one of his famous high speed dashes out of boredom. After that, Amu made sure to be as chatty as possible, fearing she'd have to run again if Kukai became bored.

We had been walking around the park for almost an hour with no luck. Utau and Tadase apparently hadn't found anything either, since they had yet to call us. I was feeling a little disappointed, because I had wanted to see how the whole 'purification process' worked, but no x-eggs had shown up.

"Ikuto, nya… we're not gonna find anything, let's go home…" Yoru whined as he peaked out at me from within my book bag. I ignored him and continued listening to the conversation Amu and Kukai were having.

"…so then, after what was supposed to be our final inning, we had to have yet another since it was tie game. I was in the outfield, and -"

"Wait, you're going too fast again!" Amu shouted for the third time since Kukai had begun to talk about baseball, "Start over, and this time explain to me what an inning is! I don't get this baseball concept!"

Kukai shook his head, "One of these day's I'll have to educate you. It's upsetting that today's adolescence can't even grasp the concept of baseball! It _is_ America's pastime, after all."

"But we're not in America…"

"All the more reason to care!"

"B-but that doesn't make any sense!"

Kukai shook his head again, "You've a lot to learn!" I sighed at the little chit-chat the two were having, it was so like Kukai to bring something of sports into a conversation. I tuned them out for a moment as I had yet another one of my pondering sessions.

Today had been an interesting day so far. First Amu lies to me about Miki, then apologizes to me by fixing my violin, and she seemed to hold some sort of grudge against her mother. True, I did not know this girl very well, but the more I was around her the more intriguing she was becoming to me. Her behavior was out of the ordinary, why would a girl of her status even bother speaking to me? Didn't she not understand the rumors about me or something!? She was not one of those girls who had chased after me with lust-like intentions like last year, nor was she one of those cautious girls who didn't bother giving me a second look. The fact that she was in the guardians wasn't an applicable reason for that, just because you were in the same council as someone didn't mean you had to converse with them or give them such a generous apology. Perhaps I was simply over thinking things, but I honestly found it quite strange.

I glanced over at Amu and Kukai again, still continuing to tune them out. This time around, Kukai was the one frowning in frustration and Amu was laughing at him, shaking her head mockingly in the same manor as he had before. There it was again. Her smile. I couldn't help but wonder why the sight of it was becoming something of an anticipated event for me. A smile was a smile. No, everyone's smile was not the same. But it was still just a smile. Why was it, then, that I couldn't help but stare slightly whenever Amu entered one of her elated moods? Another strange thing – and it seemed more crucial than all of the other facts _why was it that my slight façade, the one that earned me my titled, didn't kick in when I was around her_?

_That_ was the one strange thing that I was failing to figure out. Unless I was with Utau or Kotone, something would click in my head that made me act a certain way when I was with another girl. But when I was with Amu, that sudden change didn't spark. At all. It was almost scary; I wasn't used to it not happening. Was this proof that I had come to rely on my slight façade over the past few years in high school…? I had never really thought of it as something to rely on, I just thought of it as something irritating that kicked in when it felt like it.

This new school year was turning out to be very bizarre. But another thing I had noticed was that I hadn't had any time all week to do what I normally did during school – my agenda usually consisted of first period through fourth, either staring out a window, or constantly listening to _'those'_ girls chatter around me, about me or without me. Then there would be lunch, where I'd either sit with Utau, Kukai, Tadase, and Kotone, or I'd make my place at some other table where my presence was greeted by a warm welcome if my three guardian friends where busy in some sort of meeting. Repeat the first process through the rest of the day, and it would turn out to be a very social one.

But as of late, my usual schedule changed. I no longer had _'those'_ girl around me to talk with our about me, since there were only three in my class this year. So there was no 'prince of seduction' attitude to kick in, and no one to continue to spread rumors. I hadn't eaten lunch in the cafeteria in what seemed like ages, because I'd been in the royal garden everyday since Tuesday, and therefore didn't have any reason to act the way I usually did at school. For the past few days, I had been… a bit more normal? Weird. And with my days as a guardian just beginning, I was probably due to eating in the royal garden more often. The only reason Utau, Kukai, and Tadase ever ate in the cafeteria was because they liked to talk with Kotone and I from time to time. Would this mean I wouldn't have time for my old way of life at school anymore?

I frowned a little. I was thinking too much. We'd see how it would play out eventually…

"Ikuto! Where are you going!? Get back here!" I stopped in my tracks and looked around – noticing I was no longer walking beside Amu or Kukai anymore. Realizing my mistake, I backed up until I reached them again – Amu eying my suspiciously.

"Spacing out much?" She asked. I said nothing, and looked over to Kukai, who was on the phone. He nodded with urgency once before saying, "Okay, we'll be right there." He closed the cell phone, and turned to us, yet another look of excitement on his face.

"That was Tadase; he said they've just found five x-eggs near the slushie shop downtown."

Amu's interest seemed to peak suddenly - "And how far away would that be?"

"About ten minutes – but only if we character transform."

"Then what are we waiting for?" She opened her little pouch that contain her three eggs and tapped on Ran's. "Ran! Let's go!" The little red chara popped out of her egg, nodding eagerly.

"…Wait, so we're all character transforming now…?" No, I wasn't slow. I just honestly didn't want too. Stalling is the best policy, after all...

"Yes! Let's hurry, before the x-eggs get away! We can't let Easter find them first." Kukai said as Daichi went into his egg. I twitched a bit, but knowing I had no choice in the matter, opened my book bag and pulled Yoru out along with the humpty lock.

"I guess I have no choice… let's get this over with."

"Yay, a character change, de nya!" Yoru was so excited, it was sickening.

"Wait, what am I supposed to do with this?" I asked, holding up the violin I'd been carrying the whole time. Now I _really_ wished I had that case, even though it had been oddly shaped…

"It'll disappear and reappear with the transformation along with your bag, so chop chop, nyah!" I nodded unwillingly and did as instructed, going through the character transformation process without as much _'spirit'_ as my other two friends. Kukai was now in a pilot's outfit, complete with goggles and a pilot style jacket to match. I scowled when I realized he didn't have to run like I did – he had some sort of hover skateboard thing so he didn't have to use his energy. How unfair.

Amu on the other hand was now in a pink cheerleader outfit, hands on her hips, and a foreign look of confidence on her face. But that changed from one of confidence to one of bewilderment when she looked my direction.

"Ikuto, what's with that cat outfit?" She asked quizzically.

"I'm not a cat… apparently, I'm a black lynx."

"Well either way, it looks weird." She crossed her arms and nodded at her own statement.

I rolled my eyes, "Says the pink cheerleader with a giant heart planted on her head…"

"Hey! At least I don't have weird cat ears and a tail!"

"Psh, cat ears are sexy, a million times better than weird, unoriginal accessories like yours."

Her jaw dropped ever so slightly, "Unoriginal!?"

Kukai stepped between us, "We're wasting time! Tadase and Utau can't character transform, so they need us for backup! Follow me!" He hopped on his board and sped off in some seemingly random direction, Amu following him without another word. I stared after them for a second, wondering how I should pursue. Kukai was using his board, and wasn't limited to where he could go. Amu was now using heart speeder roller blades to stay in pace him. How was I supposed to keep up with them?

"_Geez, Ikuto, you're such an idiot to work with sometimes, you know that?" _Yoru spoke.

"How am I an idiot this time?"

"_You'll see. Just run, nya!"_

"Fine…" I started the dash steadily, but soon, I discovered I didn't need to start my runs like I normally did. Some sort of inhuman strength coursed through me, and a greater nimbleness and speed than from my first transformation came back without hesitation. No longer did simply running satisfy me, I now had to excise my new abilities to the fullest. Taking a few giant leaps forward, I soon found myself catching up with Amu, passing her up upon arrival. But that wasn't enough either, and I took another great leap, but this time, it wasn't so much forward as it was to get higher. I landed on the rooftop of a building gracefully, and continued forward after Kukai – who seemed to have no trouble at all keeping ahead of me.

The feeling of being able to glide atop buildings without an ounce of fear or hesitation is indescribable. But if I were to _try_ and describe it, the only word I could think is… well, freedom. No restrictions… yes, that is how to describe it after all. Leaping across buildings at ones own digression is like being free of restrictions, because you forget everything as you go. The only thing to think about is ones next destination; and nothing else matters. But for a split second as the three of us ran, I couldn't help but wonder: If this was what it meant to be free, then what would I have to achieve in order to obtain the right feel like this constantly? Was it even possible to constantly feel like this? It must be, since it was my would-be-self… but if that was the case, then what was holding me back?

My thoughts were interrupted upon our arrival at the slushie shop. I landed atop the building without any problems as Kukai came and hovered to my side, dropping to the ground and glancing around for Utau and Tadase. Amu was the last to arrive, but only be a few minor seconds. She took a large jump onto the building, inelegantly loosing control of her roller blades upon landing. But she played it cool and regained her balance, pretending nothing had happened once she had done so by canceling out the blades.

"So, where are they?" I asked Kukai, who was scratching his head in thought.

"No clue. They were supposed to be right around here, but…" We all glanced around as he trailed off, and soon received an indication of our missing friend's whereabouts.

"Holy crown!" We immediately knew where they were, and leaped across the ally way behind the slushie shop, landing on the building behind it and gazing down the other side. There they were, Utau and Tadase, fighting off ten x-eggs… wait, ten? They said there were only five not too long ago!

I instantly noticed the fact that Utau was rather immobile as she stood behind Tadase, who was using his holy crown attack as a shield from the x-egg's blows. She crouched behind him, gripping her wrist and glancing around alertly. Unable to wait any longer, I jumped from the top of the structure and dove in front of Tadase. The metal claws on my right arm's potential was suddenly realized as I slashed at the two eggs in front of me, they swooped backward and squarely missed my assault. I leaped backward to Utau's side as Kukai and Amu took over, grabbing her wrist gently, but with authority and examining it.

"What happened? Are you alright?" I asked her, the words spilling out as quickly as possible due to the urgency of the situation.

"One of the eggs charged at me when I wasn't ready. I tried to catch it with my bare hands, but I think I might have sprained it in the process." She was right. It didn't seem broken or anything, so I let Tadase take over and protect her as I left to assist Kukai and Amu.

"Spiral heart special!" Amu tossed her pink cheerleading rod at a group of three of the eggs, it spun around and left a trail of dust as it did so, which seemed to trap the x-eggs. I then remembered that we were supposed to purify them, but realized I didn't quite know how to do that. Amu moved to the side as one of the free x-eggs charged toward her, she moved effortlessly to the side in a dodge, but in the process lost the three eggs she had trapped.

I looked over to Kukai, who was circling around a different group of about four eggs, but also couldn't quite get the chance to purify them because one other continuously attempted to attack him. Soon I realized that what we were doing at the moment was futile – we'd never be able to purify the eggs if we were working in perfect unison. Plus, there were just too many of them. I thought about simply destroying the eggs, but it wouldn't make sense to do that. If our goal was to purify them, then obviously destroying them was against the cause, and just wouldn't do.

"Yoru! How do we purify eggs?"

"_I dunno de nya! I don't think I'm really built for purifying, I'm only good with nimbleness and combat!"_

I scowled. "Then how am I supposed to help them…? If I even bother using my claw, then I might accidentally destroy it."

Yoru offered me no answer. Instead, I was greeted by a new voice.

"_Simple, Ikuto-san. Use the gentler side of yourself."_

I glanced around and to my confusion, could not see anyone speaking to me. I cocked my head to the side. "Yoru… was that you?"

"_Nope, nyah."_ Our character transformation suddenly ended, and I found myself exposed in the center of the battlefield, violin in hand. I rushed off to the side next to Tadase, and discovered a light emanating from my book bag. I unsnapped its catch and suddenly, my remaining egg rose out of the bag, its features lighting up slightly. A chara with straight, neatly cut purple hair popped out, his red eyes holding what seemed to be a permanently bored expression. He was wearing a black butler's outfit for the most part, minus the rebel-like purple boots and scarf hanging from his neck.

"Let's make this quick," he began before I could ask any questions, "I am Orrick. I represent you wish to violin and be more gentlemanly. And… that's all we have time to speak of right now. _Ikuto-san's heart, unlock!_"

The humpty lock glowed for the second time that day in my palm, and in a short flash of light, my appearance had changed yet again. This time, I was in an outfit almost identical to Orrick's, with a black butler's outfit, a white shirt covered by a black long-sleeved vest, the back of the vest coming down passed my waist and ending in a tipped shape, with the same pair of purple boots and scarf. The difference was: 1, I now had my violin in hand, and two, I was wearing a top hat. Strange. I never thought I'd see the day I'd wear one of those.

_Character Transformation: Melodious Butler! _

"_Alright my little novice, let's get this show on the road, shall we?"_ My arms rose involuntarily as I got into a playing position. _"See, you're quite special, you don't purify things like most people do. All you have to do is use a little music…"_

I glanced over to Amu and Kukai. From what it looked like, one of the eggs had hatched into x-characters, and they were having quite a bit of trouble fighting them off. So I did as Orrick said, and played. I played a song that I'd never heard before, and it wasn't just one of those impulse made-up pieces of music. It was something that had rhythm, familiarity, and perhaps history. The unnamed piece of music was soft like a lullaby, and as I played, the x-character suddenly went back into its egg, yawning. Very slowly, the x-eggs morphed back into their original pure white forms, and flew off in some random direction once the song had ended.

The character transformation ended, and Orrick bowed as Amu and Kukai approached, the two having ended their character transformation as well.

"Wow, Ikuto, I didn't know it was possible to purify things like that!" Kukai exclaimed as he came up, a look of wonder in his expression. I shrugged.

"He's right Ikuto, that was amazing!" Amu complimented. I just nodded, offering neither a thank you nor boast. I turned around and walked back to where Utau was, as she was my current first priority.

"Ikuto, it's honestly just a sprain." She complained when I examined her hand one more time – but you could never be too careful about these things. Besides, she was my twin sister. Did she really think I was going to let this go unchecked?

"Don't care. We're taking you to the doctor, by now less than tomorrow." She sighed and stood up, dusting herself off with her good hand.

"Whatever, back to the subject at hand. Ikuto, I didn't know it was possible to purify eggs like that."

"You've opened up a new door for us!" Tadase exclaimed as he came up behind me, "With that sort of power, we will certainly be able to contain all the recent x-egg sightings without Easter being as much of a burden."

"Is it really that big a deal?" I asked nonchalantly, thought I couldn't ignore the small surge of pride I felt. I was finally becoming something a bit more important in this world; I couldn't help but be a little happy.

"What I stupid question," Utau barked, "Of course it is! And what's more, Easter doesn't even know about you yet, so you could be like our secret weapon."

I scratched my chin, "Secret weapon, huh...?"

"You know what I found strange?" Kukai said, "The amount of x-eggs we just fought. There's never been that many x-eggs at the same time before…"

"You're right," Tadase agreed, "It is quite peculiar."

I sighed "Listen, that's a grand idea and all, but can we discuss this tomorrow at a guardians meeting or whatever? I'm tired."

No one seemed to disagree with my suggestion, and so we all began our walk home, together at first. Kukai, Tadase, and Utau led the way, with Amu trailing behind them. I took my time and found myself quite a few yards behind all four of them as I was lost in thought again, the days events had been something interesting. My two important characters had been hatched, and things were going smoothly. I couldn't help but wonder what lied ahead, it seemed as though my high school life would only be filled with purifying eggs and whatnot. While it sounded better than what I had been previously doing for the passed few years at school, purifying eggs might get boring after awhile. But I'd only have to endure it for two years, so it wasn't a big deal…

Then I noticed something. Where had my violin gone? I glanced around, and even checked my hands, but it had vanished.

"Did I leave it back there…?" I wondered out loud.

"If you're talking about the violin…" Orrick spoke up, "I have it."

I looked at him incredulously. "How could you possibly have it?"

He crossed his arms and spoke snootily, "Well. When we did a character transformation, I became one with your violin. It is now part of your character transformation and character change, so next time you wish to play, all you need to do is character change with me and you can play it any time you'd like."

"I like the sound of that," this was quite a useful feature indeed. I wouldn't have to sneak it into my house, and it would technically be with me at all times since Orrick would always be there. I really liked that idea. Perhaps things were finally starting to look up for me.

I soon came to notice Amu had slowed down quite a bit and was now walking beside me, staring at me from the side. What could she possibly want at a time like this?

"What is it now?" I asked in a somewhat impolite tone; I wasn't in the mood for another argument with her. I really was tired. But she ignored my tone when she replied.

"I noticed something today." She said, almost in a ghostlike manner.

"And that was?"

"Today, when you were leaping on the rooftops…" she looked at me, and I then saw the setting sun reflected in her golden eyes. I suddenly felt captivated – so much so that I barely caught the next thing she said. "You were smiling."

I blinked and replayed what she said in my head a few times.

"What are you talking about? Of all things to notice, you notice _that_?"

She frowned and began that blushing of hers, "Well, you almost never smile genuinely, so it was just something I noticed…"

I huffed, "How would you possibly know how often I smile?"

She crossed her arms and looked away, the mood suddenly shifting to our typical hostile atmosphere. "Well, every time I see you you've always got on such an expressionless face! And the only time you come close to smiling is when you do that disgusting smirk of yours!"

This, of all things, actually _triggered_ that smirk of mine. "Oh, so are you saying you _scrutinize_ me or something, _Amu_?"

Her cheeks went from pink to red at this comment, "N-n-n-no! I just noticed it, that's all!" I chuckled, but not only from her response. Somehow, I felt as though I'd had a similar conversation with her before. But I knew that was impossible.

"I don't see how you'd notice that unless you stared at me all day," I said teasingly, and it was working because she began to go berserk after that comment, stuttering and shouting random nonsense. I simply watched her as she spoke out of hot air, and when she was done, continued staring and remained quiet.

"_What_!?" She shouted at me, and smirked at her unflinchingly.

"You done yet? I'm growing tired of hearing your constant screeching. You sound like a howler monkey going through puberty, so I advise that you try being quiet for once."

Amu twitched and then glowered, "Y-y-you jerk!" She then began stomping ahead of me, and I couldn't help but laugh at her. Okay. I'll admit it. Amu was cute. More than that, she was adorable. And the fact that she was so fun, so _easy_ to tease made it all the more amusing to play with her. She was different, and I liked that.

I suddenly felt kind of bad about saying she sounded like a howler monkey, she really didn't sound bad, but she took everything personally so it was her own fault she was getting angry.

"You know Ikuto-san; it's partially thanks to that girl that I managed to hatch." Orrick said suddenly, floating up beside me. I'd completely forgotten about him and Yoru yet again, I still wasn't quite used to having them around. Glancing into my book bag, I noticed Yoru was sleeping soundly inside his egg; he must have been just as tired as I was.

"Oh really? And how might that be?"

"If she hadn't fixed your violin, you probably wouldn't have bothered to get another one. And then I'd have no reason to exist."

"Interesting," Was all I said as I rounded the corner of the block. I instantly noticed Kotone across the sidewalk, her nose in a book as she walked along the path. I hadn't seen her since she'd given me my violin a few days ago, so I decided to drop by and say hello before I continued my way home.

I crossed the street swiftly, just in time for when Kotone tripped and fell on the sidewalk after not paying attention to where she was going. Her book fell to the side, and I read the title as I approached. _'Quirks and Perks of the Music Industry.'_

"Lucky for you I just happened to be walking by, neh?" I asked, holding out my hand for her. She smiled that consistently innocent smile of hers and accepted my hand, allowing me to pull her up. I picked up her book as she dusted herself off.

"Thank you," she said, before taking her book back. "So, how's life as a guardian?"

"Extremely interesting. I don't think I'll be bored for quite awhile."

She giggled. "Well, Ikuto, I'm in a hurry right now but I have something important to tell you…"

"Like?"

She remained silent for a moment, her emerald eyes casting off to the ground. But although they were facing such a direction, they looked as though they were seeing so much more than just the concrete.

"Mmm… never mind. I'll tell you later, it'll take awhile to explain anyway, and I'm in a hurry."

_Weird._ I thought. Kotone wasn't usually the one to drop a subject like that. Then again, this day couldn't get any more out there, so perhaps it was just meant to be. I didn't press for an answer, and waved her off as she continued down the sidewalk, her eyes once again focused on the pages her book. I then sped off in the direction my sister had gone, desperate to finally get home to rest for the remainder of the day.

* * *

**Alex's notes:** _Well, this chapter came out very differently than I had originally planned. Oh well, what's done is done. Sorry if the ending seemed a little choppy, I was trying to hurry up and end it 'cause the chapter was so frikken long. Too long, honestly. 26 pages it too much. Seriously, I overdid it. Don't get spoiled! Not all the chapters will be this ridiculously long! xD guess that's something I'll have to work one. Slightly shorter chapters...  
_

_If you thought Amu acted strange in this chapter, hold that thought. :) That's all I'ma say. You'll all get your answers soon. And, bah! I can't seem to make Tadase important. He's not the most fun character of the cast to work with, so I tend to neglect him… hope you all don't mind._

_Mmm. Two more weeks left of school. I have one four page history paper due next Tuesday, which will be easy to write, and finals next week. Don't expect the next chapter too soon._

_An interesting fact: I had originally planned for Orrick to be the Chara of Death Rebel, but changed it too a butler at the last minute. It just didn't seem to fit what Ikuto's trying to be in this story. :P Orricks eyes are similar too Guu's from Hare+Guu, by the way. Their bigger though._

_Next chapter: The only hints I'm giving is that three very interesting things will happen. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. The next one will be so much more appealing, I promise!_

_So now, __**Review please!**_


	5. Truth and Betrayal: Unravel, Unveil!

**Alex's notes:** _**Thank you**_ _everyone who reviews my stories. Even if I don't always reply, please know that I appreciate it, no matter its contents! You all rock so much. ;o; I heart you._

_I had to testing all last week so I had almost zero time to write this chapter. I'm sorry if it seems awkward; I sort of rushed near the beginning of the middle... the weird thing is, I wrote the beginning of this chapter first, skipped the middle, and then wrote the end. Then I wrote the middle. O.o_

_K update on my life.  
_

It's summer vacation! 'Nuff said.  
And after having the game for six years and being terrible at it, I'm going to attempt to play Baten Kaitos the proper way and actually beat it, since I have never been able to before.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Shugo Chara! Peach-pit does.  


* * *

**

_  
The Miracle Swap_

_Chapter 5: Truth and Betrayal: Unravel, Unveil!_

"You useless brute! That is not the proper way to behave! Where are your manners!?"

"That's gotta be the fiftieth time you've asked me that, nya… why can't you just can it!?"

"That's because you never give me a proper answer, or apology for that matter!"

"I've got an idea… solve it by both of you shutting up. Simultaneously."

"B-but Ikuto! He started it, nya!"

Yet another argument between my two guardians. This now happened at least five times daily. Ever since Orrick hatched, their personalities conflicted waaay to much for me to even _dream_ of the two getting along. Or getting a single moment of silence.

"Don't care. We're at a game. I don't want to hear it, got it? So get along, or shut up."

"Honestly," Amu intruded, "Don't you two ever shut those big holes in your faces!? We came here to have fun, not to argue!" The two guardians sulked a little bit, Orrick looking as though he was deeply wounded by Amu's words while Yoru stayed silent.

"I'm so sorry, M'lady…"

"And stop calling me that, gosh darnit!"

Orrick gasped dramatically, covering his mouth with his hand. "My lady! You shouldn't be using such impure language!" God, I was still having trouble believing this was my would-be-self.

"If you don't BE QUIET, then I will ring you neck right here and now, damn it!" I stifled laughter. I knew Amu just added those last few words because she knew they would bug him. Orrick's jaw dropped and he then rubbed the temples of his forehead and floated away to the railing of the bleachers we were sitting on, muttering to himself about "kids these days", or something like that. But I could no longer hold my amusement towards Amu's actions when the people around us stared at her curiously, probably wondering why the pink headed girl was screaming at what seemed like nothing. She blushed with embarrassment and fell silent.

"S-s-shut up, Ikuto…" That phrase was being said a lot today.

It was winter vacation. Well, almost winter, if you want to be technical. I only say winter because it was already snowing. Anyway, we were approaching the middle of December now, and after my first encounter with the x-eggs back at the beginning of school in August, I had adjusted to the life of a guardian without to much trouble. At least, I hadn't at the beginning. I had many more encounters with x-eggs after the slushie shop incident, and in at the start of being a guardian, had not run into any problems with Easter. But that tranquil time had passed only a week after I had begun to purify them, and the evil company had somehow caught wind of my ability to purify many eggs at once. They began to appear at nearly every one of my encounters and frequently interrupted my healing sessions, stealing them before I could do anything about it. They had some sort of annoying device that attracted groups of eggs to them, and it felt as though I was being constantly followed by the company because eggs seemed to always appear where I appeared.

To put it bluntly, the guardians were losing in the battle against Easter.

I had been trying not to dwell on that fact, since I disliked losing to adults, but other than that, life was going on smoothly. Odd, different, but still very smoothly. First interesting development: After joining the guardians, my status at school had begun to clear slowly because I was… well, never really around the other kids. I almost never ate in the cafeteria anymore, and when I did I was still sitting with the guardians, so there was no one else to interact with to continue spreading rumors or causing that other side of me (which was not missed in the least) to come out. Life was returning to normal. Well, almost normal, besides my new job as the main purifier of the guardians.

Second interesting development: Utau and Amu had suddenly become really close friends over the course of five months. The two seemed inseparable, along with their other friends Yaya and Rima, those four girls always hung out whenever Amu and Utau didn't have guardian duties. Because of this, I too became somewhat close to Amu. Well, I wouldn't say close. To be honest, no one, especially me, had been able to become truely 'close' to Amu. The rest of the guardians knew nothing about her life, and she never shared about the events of her life, nor did she invite anyone over to her house.

There where many questions surrounding Amu – like why she hid Miki from us, which was something I kept secret. It wasn't my secret to learn in the first place, so it wasn't my business to go blathering on about it. Another thing I noticed about Amu was that she acted eccentrically when she made a mistake. She would feel very guilty and swear she would make it up to us if she did something wrong – when I say 'us,' I mean, only Utau and I. She was much more leisurely when it came to other people, she'd wave it off as just a small blunder, but whenever she did something incorrect with Utau or I, she'd make a big deal out of it. It was… strange. But I never asked questions. I just assumed this was the way she was.

Another strange thing about Amu: Whenever something involving her little sister occurred, she would go into a "drop everything and focus on Ami" mode. The reason could be for anything – Ami needing help with her homework, a session of some form of playing, Ami wanting Amu to buy her something – Whatever Ami wanted, Amu seemed to go to the ends of the earth to obtain the desired. Weird. But it had become a normal behavior for her by now.

The last interesting development: ever since the day Yoru hatched, I hadn't seen the girl who stole my egg, nor had I seen the egg itself. Not that I cared about it, but I still had a right to be curious, didn't I?

Anyway, as it was, things were bad but seemed swell. Everyone adjusted to our life of constantly losing eggs. Currently, Amu, Utau, Tadase, and I were all sitting in on the bleachers of the soccer field as we rooted Kukai during his soccer game, their teaming winning by a score of seven to four.

"Honestly…" I heard Kiseki grumble, "I will never understand why I had such idiotic servants."

"Perhaps their just trying to be more like you," Eru chuckled mockingly.

"Well, their doing an awful job!" Kiseki nodded, clearly not understanding Eru's insult. The group of Charas sighed at this and quieted down, taking a seat on the railing of the bleachers.

"Look! Kukai's up again!" Tadase said, pointing to the field. Kukai had previously rotated out with another team member and had been benched, but now he was out again, and we were once again wrapped in the game.

"Gooo Kukai!" Amu shouted, waving a hand in the air, "Score one for me!" Kukai smiled cockily and gave us a thumbs up before getting into position. The whistle was blown, and our team charged forward toward the ball. But they weren't fast enough in this round, and our opposing team got it first.

It was at this moment that Amu's cell phone rang. She groaned as she flipped it open, but answered in a polite mood despite her obvious annoyance with the disturbance.

"Hello? … Oh, Nagihiko!"

Who was Nagihiko…?

"Is something wrong? … Really now… Well, I was, but I can come right now. Yeah, I'll be right there… What! Fine fine, if you're gonna pester me like this!!" She slammed her phone shut and pouted.

"Going somewhere?" I asked, suppressing the urge to use a curt tone at the thought of her leaving when the game was almost over.

"Sorry," she said, standing up "My boss just called, it's an emergency."

Utau frowned. "…You have a boss…? You have a _job_? You never told us."

Amu looked as though she had just mentally slapped herself, "It's not really a 'job' so much as it is a… uh… something else. I'll tell you later, apologize to Kukai for me, alright?"

The three of us stared after her incredulously as she turned and left, her Chara's following her. The urgency of the situation could be heard in the stomping of her boots as she made her way down the steps of the bleachers. My eyebrow twitched slightly in annoyance. And perhaps something else. But I said nothing, and gave no indication of the feeling of disappointment suddenly gnawing at me.

After Amu left, the excitement of the game seemed to vanish along with her.

~Nya.~

"See? We told you there was no point in worrying. Your team is just too pro for them." Utau was saying to Kukai as we walked toward a nearby coffee shop after the game.

"Couldn't agree more," I said, letting Kukai enjoy his moment of high. "Still, I can't believe we're moving to the final four! Last couple times I played soccer, we never got this far."

"Your hard word must be paying off," Tadase nudged Kukai, smiling.

"Still though," Kukai raised his gaze to the sun setting sky, "I can't believe Amu just got up and left like that. It's so unlike her."

"I agree," Utau nodded, "I wonder what's up with her lately…?" I couldn't help but ask myself the same question. Her behavior had been very out of the ordinary ever since December began. She would have to leave at random times, come to school late or leave early, and she had even missed a guardian meeting once. Which was, as Kukai had already stated, very unlike her. She was normally a very responsible person.

"I'd hate to bring this lovely conversation to a halt," Orrick hovered up in front of us, causing us to stop, "but I sense a very frightening amount of x-eggs in the vicinity."

Yoru blinked. "Really? I don't…"

"And you call yourself a Shugo Chara!"

"Wait up! I can sense it too!" Iru said hastily, glancing around with an apprehensive expression. "It's definitely a dangerous amount."

"Great, I'm exhausted and still have to fight x-eggs!" Kukai griped. Despite this, he still looked as though he hadn't worked through an hour and a half of soccer.

"Stop complaining and let's get going. Quickly before they can cause any harm!" Utau then ran off in some random direction.

"But we didn't even tell you where to go yet! Utau! Come baaaack!" Iru and Eru ran after their quick-tempered owner, who seemed to be too caught up in running to even hear them. I sighed. My sister was so quick to act. That was how she sprained her wrist in the summer; didn't she learn anything from that experience?

"Well, it's good you all didn't follow her then. Because she's going the wrong way." Orrick pointed in the opposite direction, "It's actually that way."

Everyone groaned as we began our way toward the source of the sensation. I did a character change to pick up the pace, and soon, we all found ourselves near an abandoned train track sight. The tracks were rusting, and to one side of them was a small, unenclosed station with a few benches here and there. On the other side of the tracks, the grassy area came to a hilly drop, and near that was a very small river. On the track were some abandoned carts, and they too were now rusting.

"There!" Orrick pointed in the direction over the carts, and a quickly did a character transformation with Yoru to overcome to obstacle. What I saw filled me with a feeling of irony.

There had to be at least three dozen x-eggs, some of which had already hatched and were prompting others to do the same. In the midst of the scene, was the girl in blue I'd seen so many months ago standing beside a boy with long, dark violet hair with a loose beanie atop his head. He had on simple, casual clothing – vest atop a short sleeved jersey, shorts, gloves, knee pads, sneakers… but _something_ told me he was in a character transformation form.

"Distract them while I prepare the net," He said, leaping back out of the way of the x-characters. The girl in the blue butterfly mask just nodded, raising a hand in the air. A music note shaped baton appeared and her grasp, and she waved it once before performing her attack.

"Prism Music!" Music notes suddenly flew out from the baton, enveloping the many x-eggs and x-characters. They were left unable to move, and with a smile, she turned and ran after the boy.

Silently, we followed her to where the boy had went, which wasn't but a few yards away in an abandoned cart on the track.

"…put them in this, and then we can seal them up. They'll be powerless while their in our new invention, but we won't be able to do this if we can't get them _all_ in quickly, so let's hurry." She girl nodded and the two ran out, not noticing me and my friends staring down at them from the top of the cart. I leapt down and peered inside the cart. There was some sort of large container in there – shaped a lot like a can, with a single entry hole at the top.

"Seems like Easters doing to me," I speculated. The others nodded in agreement. "What should we do now?"

"Well," Tadase began, "Kukai and I will try to figure out how to dismantle the machine. Ikuto, you should go after those two and try to stop them from further immobilizing the eggs. Once they figure out what we're doing, they'll probably speed up the process, so we need you to distract them." I simply nodded before turning and running after our two new enemies. It was rather strange, since normally we'd be up against adults in black suits and tinted glasses. But this time we were up against two people who seemed to be around the same age as us, what a switch.

Once I'd reached the cluster of eggs again, I sprinted out in front of the girl in blue before she had the chance to use her little baton to control the x-characters and eggs. She stopped amidst her attack and paused, seeming stunned by my sudden appearance. I flashed her a grin and she completely halted, turning to her partner, who looked as though he was about to attack me before suddenly grabbing her hand and pulling her out of the way – just in time to dodge an attack. I looked up and the three of us realized that the eggs had escaped their previous confinement within the music notes; numerous ones were beginning to hatch into x-characters. I glowered and frantically looked around for Orrick – he was my only means of purification, after all. I needed to do a character change with him, but I couldn't see him anywhere…

"Ikuto, look out!!" My attention suddenly turned to the girl with the butterfly mask as she suddenly charged at me, arms outstretched as she shoved me to the side, but at the same time grabbing one of my ribbons as I fell down the not-so-steep hill – just in time to dodge an x-characters attack. We landed next to the bottom of the stream with a harsh landing. After the fall, there was a thud next to me. I opened my eyes, and saw what I would call the most shocking scene of the year: a girl, now without her mask on, scrambling to stuff her pink shoulder length hair into her hat.

"Amu…?" I stood up, gazing after her. She froze in her efforts as she crouched over her mask, her back to me. She did not speak, and so I waited before I said anything else, processing the information as quickly as I could. The facts, once puzzle pieces, were now coming together with ease. Amu was the mysterious masked girl that I'd met five months ago. So if this was the case, then that also meant she was the one who stole my egg that had been missing all this time. And she was also the one who attempted to steal the humpty lock. If she was stealing x-eggs, then that must mean…

"Amu." I called to her sternly, and she flinched at my tone. "You work with Easter?"

She sighed, lifting her puffy beret hat off her head and allowing her pink locks to fall to her shoulders again before placing it back on her head. She picked up the mask and tossed it in the river.

"U-unfortunately…" her voice quivered as she spoke. And with that, I felt that vein, that slight twinge of anger that I always worked hard to suppress, pulsate once. But I couldn't allow myself to snap. Not at Amu. There had to be a logical explanation for this. I had to stay calm, sensible, and not snap at her. She probably wouldn't answer if I did that.

"Why… would you do something like this, Amu? Why would you betray us?" I asked her softly, noting her twitch like an electrical current had just shot through her. But after I spoke, I felt like I was really asking, 'why would you betray _me_?' She didn't turn around after I spoke, and instead simply stood up, facing the other direction.

"I had no choice." I opened my mouth to ask another question, but then received a reminder that I had work to do.

"Amu-chan!" The boy with Amu from before dashed down the hill and stopped in front of her, gripping her shoulders lightly. Oddly, I didn't like this.

"Are you alright? What… what happened…?" His tone of voice took a sympathetic turn at that second question.

Was she…?

He stared down at her for a few second before pulling her into an embrace, whispering something inaudible to me in her ear before jumping at the sound of an explosion. We all turned our attention up the hill, and I saw Tadase suddenly emerge from its horizon.

"Ikuto!" He waved down at me, desperately trying to get my attention. "We've disabled the machine! Let's get this show on the road!" I nodded, leaping up the hill. I spared one more glance back at Amu, whose free hand was tightly clutched to the boys hand, her other arm swiping over her face. So I was right. She was crying.

The boy glared maliciously at me before running off – speeding down the side of the river while practically dragging Amu along with him – and disappeared after taking a turn west. I looked back at Tadase and saw him staring after them.

"Ikuto – was that?" I nodded once curtly, then forced myself to focus on the now instead of what had just happened. I had to focus on purifying the eggs before I could do anything else. Kukai and Tadase dashed ahead, shielding me from attacks as I got ready.

'_Ikuto, I'm switchin' with Orrick now, nya!'_ Yoru warned me before swapping transformation place with my other Guardian.

"…And where were you?" I asked as my violin appeared in hand.

'_Helping those two buffoons with the machine, what else?'_

My eyebrow twitched slightly in irritation but I said nothing, continuing with the purification process.

~Nya.~

"So what you're telling me is, Amu has been working with Easter the whole time!?" Utau boomed. I blinked a few times, squinting my eyes as she roared in my face.

"Looks like it. She was in the same outfit as the girl who stole my egg five months ago, and if she's going around stealing eggs, why _wouldn't_ she be involved with Easter?"

"I think," Tadase began, "Amu was probably sent to this school to infiltrate us. That's probably why every time we've tried to purify a group of eggs, Easter's goons have been able to steal them or defeat us before we had a chance too. They were probably always one step ahead because Amu sent them some sort of signal…"

Kukai sighed, rubbing the temples of his forehead. "Well then, that must mean that when she left earlier during my game, she got a call from Easter telling her about that huge group of eggs."

"I wonder if that was Nagihiko…" I wondered out loud.

"In any case, this matter needs to be dealt with immediately. Amu cannot remain in the Ace Chair, and she can't attend anymore meetings. We'll have to exile her from the group, although we can't really do anything about her _attending_ this school. Expelling her from the Guardians is the only thing we have the power to do."

"But…" Utau hesitated, which was a strange sight since she never did that. "Shouldn't we at least hear Amu's side of the story?"

Tadase shook his head, "We have all the evidence we need to prove she's with Easter. She stole Ikuto's egg, was working with that boy down by the train tracks who had installed a machine to capture the x-eggs, and much of our purification ratings went down from the moment she joined us. Asking further questions would be a waste of time. We need to deal with this matter _now_."

Utau clenched her teeth in frustration, and I could immediately tell she was about to do something rather foolhardy.

"I won't accept it! Amu and I have gotten so close after the past five months, and I'm not about to drop our friendship just because you guys are _assuming_ she's with Easter! _I'm_ going to talk to her, and find out what's really going on!"

"Utau! Wait!" I called after her, and she paused on her way out of the royal garden, turning her attention to me.

"And you, Ikuto, out of all people shouldn't be the one jumping to conclusions." She said this coldly, and I inwardly flinched at her comment as she dashed out of the green house. Why would I be expected not to jump to conclusions? How was _I_ jumping to conclusions!?

Kukai sighed again and stood up, "Well, I guess that does it for this meeting. Tadase and I will go handle the paper work about Amu's expulsion from the counsel. It's a three against one vote, so we can go ahead and take care of it right now. Why don't you just go home and rest for today, Ikuto?" I nodded slowly as a feeling in the pit of my stomach telling me I'd done something wrong bubbled a bit. Even Kukai seemed a bit reluctant to expel Amu from the counsel, but we had no choice but too. We had enough evidence, and we had to act fast before Easter could gain anymore knowledge about our actions.

I got up as well and began my way out of the garden alone, with only Yoru and Orrick to follow me. It was only a few hours after the incident, and we had all decided too regroup at the garden and discuss the issue and fill Utau in on what happened, since she had been absent during the whole event. But now, it was time to head home for the day. Today was Saturday, and as I walked towards the schools gates, I remember I had someone I was supposed to meet up with.

"Ikuto…" Yoru mumbled as he hovered up beside me, Orrick following suit.

"What." I was surprised at how empty the word sounded this time around. Normally I'd say it with so much more annoyance, but this time it came out like a ghastly phrase.

"Maybe Utau's right, nya…"

"…Maybe we should talk with Amu ourselves?" Orrick finished for Yoru. I glanced at him and smiled slightly. Yoru and Orrick always seemed to like Amu a lot, so it seemed only natural they'd want to at least give her the benefit of the doubt.

"If you want to, go ahead and follow Utau. But I have something I need to do, so I won't be coming with you. Just don't get lost if you can't find her." They seemed unsure about their decision for a minute, but soon floated off without another word in the direction Utau had ran. Sighing, I stopped at the school gate and leaned up against its wall, looking at the clock. It was now six-thirty PM… Kotone had better get here soon. She had asked me the day before to meet her at the school yard at this time, because she had something to tell me.

Oh, right. I suppose now would be a great time to mention that Kotone never really got around to telling me what she'd wanted to tell me five months ago. Every time I'd ask her about it, she'd just say something like _I'll tell you later, it's not an important matter yet_, or _Now's not the time, Ikuto!_ I was getting really impatient with waiting for what she had to tell me, since she'd kept me waiting for so long. Of course I'd want to know what my childhood friend was up too! What would make her think I wanted to _wait_ for her to tell me?

I heard a clicking sound approach and I looked up to see Kotone walking towards me, her sandals clanking against the schools pavement, a smile on her face. She was in light sand colored clothing, a brown blouse with sleeves passed her fingers, and a light brown skirt that was of appropriate length. Her brunette hair was her usual hair style: two pony tails with tied at the end loosely with a small rubber band, left to roam around freely. The only thing I found strange was the cowboy hat she had hanging off her back by a set of strings. But I let it slide.

"Ikuto-kun! I'm sorry I'm late, did you wait long?"

"Yes, actually. I've been waiting here for a full fifteen minutes." I lied. She giggled, probably able to tell. But the playful look in her eyes swapped with one of a concerned look when she finally reached me, and she frowned a bit.

"What's wrong?"

I raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Her brow furrowed a little more, her emerald eyes suddenly holding a look of testiness. "What do you mean '_what do you mean'_? You look like you're about to attend your best friends funeral!"

"Do I really?"

"Yes!"

"Oh…" I decided to tell her, just not give details. I wanted to cut to the chase of as to why she called me here in the first place. "Something pretty bad happened today, but it would take me a long time to explain it so let's just leave it at that."

"Oh… well, I hope your day get's better!" She smiled sincerely, and I couldn't help but smile back. Well, it was more of a smirk, but whatever. Kotone was always nice to have around; she had some sort of radiance about her that was upbeat, cheerful, and innocent.

"So anyway… what did you call me here for?" I ventured. Her smiled faded into a somewhat neutral expression, and she waited a bit before responding.

"Well… it's about what I was going to tell you awhile back. I couldn't tell you up until now because I didn't want you to worry, but today's my last day so…" she paused, and I had a feeling what she had to tell me wasn't going to be pleasant.

"Ikuto, my talent for playing the piano and violin has been discovered by a producer. He wanted me too finish this year of school before I got into the music industry, and since we're on our winter break, I've decided to leave right away so I can pursue my dream. If I wait too long, the offer might be swept away by someone else... I wanted to tell you earlier, back when I first found out, but I didn't know how to tell you I was leaving. I didn't want to burden you with the thought, and I thought it might be a good idea to wait until I was going to leave to tell you…"

So, Kotone was leaving? That was an unexpected development, not to mention a rather unsettling one. If she was leaving to pursue a career in the music industry, then that could mean she could be gone for months, or even years, without visiting. Life would become weird without her around, since she'd always been with me for practically my entire life, and although we hadn't hung out as much this year as we usually did, we were still quite close.

"… and I also need you to tell Utau-chan I said goodbye. I don't have the heart to tell her myself that I'm leaving."

I sighed and leaned down to her eye level, frowning a bit. Her eyes widened and a barely noticeable tint of pink appeared on her cheeks as I spoke.

"Now what made you think that was a good idea? I would have spent a lot more time with you if you had told me you were leaving, you know."

"W-well I didn't think you could, since you've been so busy lately. I didn't want you to feel like you _had_ to hang out with me since I was leaving…"

"Idiot," I hit her lightly atop her head, "You should have just told me, but now it's too late. So, you owe me five months of companionship sometime during this life time, weather or not you're busy. This means, come and visit us sometime, okay?" I grinned, and her eyes lit up a bit.

"Sure thing Ikuto, but there's still two more things I need to tell you!"

"And what might they be?"

Her smile grew almost immeasurably "One, if you see me on T.V, vote for me." I nodded at that one.

"And two…" she leaned forward towards me, and it was only then that I noticed the distance between our faces was a small one. But by then, it was already too late, as she had already came and went with her short peck on the lips, twirling away towards the gate exit after she had done so before I could react.

"I love you, Ikuto! Bye now!" And with that, she dashed out the gates, vanishing before I could catch up with her. My expression remained a rather unresponsive one as I registered the moment.

Great. My childhood friend was in love with me… when I could easily say, the feeling wasn't mutual.

~Nya.~

Snow was falling rather heavily from the sky above, relentless to those who decided to take a walk today. But lucky for me, I was at home, in the warm, relaxing. Staring at the ceiling with great zeal, I concentrated on its various patterns as I sat at my desks chair, pondering. Orrick, Yoru, and Utau had all asked me what was on my mind, and my reply was simply the fact that I was a little worried about how Kotone would be. They'd taken the lie without any argue, and I was left to keep my dazed expression as much as I wished without their unendingly concerned questions. Utau hadn't taken Kotone's leaving very well, saying that she had lost her two best friends in the same day, and had left the very next morning to wander about town with Kukai to help keep her mind off things. Apparently Orrick, Yoru, And Utau were unable to find Amu on Saturday, as they had returned home with empty expressions and a gloomy atmosphere about them. There wasn't much I could say to them though. What _could_ you say to someone when you find out their best friend has betrayed them? Perhaps someone smarter than I would know.

It was Sunday morning, and I was at home on my computer, looking up information about a Christmas Concert that was supposed to happen around three days before Christmas Eve. My parents had informed Utau and I the night before that they were going to be gone the week before Christmas, but would be home by Christmas morning. Something about some sort of special Christmas baking convention that I didn't give a crap about. This meant that I could do whatever I wanted while they were gone, _including_ going to concerts. Presently, the only ones at home were me, my mother, and father. Utau, as stated before, left with Kukai, and for some reason my Chara's left with her. Probably using her as an excuse to leave the house and search for Amu. For whatever it was, I didn't care. I had already decided not to burden myself with thoughts of Amu's betrayed and Kotone's stealing of my lips virginity. Don't look so surprised; haven't I already stated I've never had a girlfriend? People only _think_ I go around kissing people. Or at least, they used too. Not so much anymore. But Kotone's kiss felt more like something your little sister would give to you… it didn't seem to carry a romantic air, or at least for me.

Anyway, the whole "not thinking about Amu" thing wasn't really working for me. I guess it took awhile to sink in that Amu was our enemy. A whole day to sink in, to be exact. And now, I was feeling perhaps a little depressed about the whole ordeal, as I'm sure the rest of the Guardians were. After all, Amu had become one of our friends since she and I had joined the Guardian Council, and losing two friends in a day took a lot out of someone's mental stability. Well, not mine. I wasn't mental. But my Chara's and Utau sure where.

After thinking about it, I did kind of want to hear what Amu had to say for herself as well. Although all the evidence was there, was it possible we made some sort of mistake? That sounded highly improbable. Perhaps it was the guilt of what Utau had said to me the day before that was making me so uneasy. I wasn't as close to Amu as I'd like to have been – or more rather, as much as Utau was. So how was I expected _'not jump to conclusions'_, as she'd said? My trail of thought was interrupted when I heard my Dad yelling from downstairs.

"IKUTO! _Ikuto_ G'down here! You have some major explaining to do!" I shot up from my seat, startled for a moment from the sudden eruption, but remained calm as I left my room and went down the hallway toward the stairs. What could I possibly have to explain!? My instrument was hidden with my character change, so the violin couldn't be the problem; I had gotten an all A-B report card, _and_ my room was clean! What could I possibly be getting in trouble for _this_ time!?

I reached the bottom of the stairs and rounded the corner, heading towards the door that lead to the front of the shop since I realized my parents weren't in the family kitchen or living room. When I opened the door, I was a bit more embarrassed at my father's next accusations than shocked. But still a great deal shocked.

Amu was standing at the front door, the biggest blush I'd ever seen her wear glowing across her face, her hair covered with white snowflakes. She had an orange and red stripped scarf wrapped around her neck, a tan colored turtleneck with a blue vest over that. Her hands, in blue mittens, were then timidly crossed behind her back with eyes averting from my direction. My mom was standing beside her, dusting out the snow flakes with a smile on her face. My dad, on the other hand, was waiting for me by the door, his arms crossed. I opened my mouth to say something but he surprised me by suddenly grabbing my shoulders and shaking me lightly.

"_Son._ Why didn't you _tell_ us that you had a girlfriend!?"

"And such a cute one at that!" My mom proclaimed. Amu closed her eyes and covered her face with her hands, too embarrassed to say anything. I opened my mouth again to speak, but was interrupted yet _again_.

"We'll have to give you _the talk_ now, since its loooong overdue, and -" Thank god my mom interrupted him, although she wasn't much better in her proclamations. Seriously though, no one received _the talk_ anymore. That's what the internet was for!

"Ohhh, won't their prom pictures be so adorable!?" She cooed.

"_What_ are you two talking about!? She's not my girlfriend!" I shouted. Silence filled the room, followed by some blinking and an '_eh?'_ from my father.

"B-but, Ikuto! How can you know such a cute girl and _not_ have her be your girlfriend!?" My dad whined. Why was he so disappointed!?

"That's because she's just a frien-" I stopped. Was Amu my friend anymore? I didn't really know… "Well, I mean, we're in the same…" Wait, no we weren't in the same club anymore either.

"… She's just someone I know at school. She helps me with… home EC… and stuff." Amu seemed to flinch a little bit at that last part, staring at the tile of the bakery.

"Oh." My dad said, releasing me from his sturdy grip. He scratched the back of his head, grinning with that _oops, I just screwed up!_ Look that we all know our dads get when they've been stupid. My mom just continued smiling.

"Ooooh, so that's how it is?" She patted Amu's pink head, "I'm sorry dear, I guess we just jumped to conclusions."

"T-that's okay…" She muttered, her face still red.

"So why are you here?" My dad asked in a speculated tone, probably because we were always closed on Sundays and it was suspicious she'd show up today of all days.

"U-um," she stumbled over her words for a moment before finally getting to what she wanted to say, "Ikuto owes me a favor. I was hoping I could use you're shop to bake a cake for my little sister, Ami. Her birthday's tomorrow and I'd already ordered her a vanilla and strawberry birthday cake, but when I went to pick it up today they'd made it all wrong. So I decided to make my own, but the one I planned on buying her was a lot more extravagant than any old home-made cake. I thought maybe I could use you're professional equipment, if you didn't mind. And not only that," Amu pulled a card out the pocket of her vest, handing it to my mom, "This is our address. I know it's really short notice, but I was also kind of hoping you could cater at her party too? My mom said that since it's so unexpected, she'll pay you guys whatever you want…"

"So that's how it is, huh…" My dad said, rubbing his chin. "Guess we can't say no. We've already accused you of something your not, and plus Monday's are always slow in the afternoon. Not to mention you're Ikuto's friend. We can cater."

Amu's eyes widened and she smiled, "Really? Thank you so much!"

"Ikuto! Take her around back where all the equipment is!" I frowned a bit, but nodded as I turned and went back through the door, Amu following me from behind. I had no choice but to accept, since I couldn't tell my parents about my current dispute with her was.

When we reached the baking kitchen I stopped at the entrance and leaned against the door frame, which lacked an actual door, watching her as she examined the equipment. She said nothing as she did so, and after about thirty seconds I decided she really didn't have the right now to give me any form of a silent treatment.

"It's too bad Utau isn't here right now. She wanted to talk to you yesterday, but apparently they couldn't find you. She'll be disappointed to know you dropped by without having seen her." She stopped what she was doing and turned to look at me, a shocked expression on her face. It remained there as she calculated, and until she spoke.

"Utau was looking for me?" I nodded, and she smiled a bit. "… So she doesn't hate me…"

I shrugged "You know, you shouldn't underestimate her. Once something's become important to her, it's not like she'll give it up without a fight…" Amu turned around completely, hoisting herself up on the counter behind her and taking a seat. How informal of her. This wasn't her home!

"And what about you, Ikuto?" She ask, fixating her gaze on mine as she spoke, notably uncaring to the fact that she was sitting on the counter… no clue why that was bothering me so much. Either way, I wasn't quite sure how to answer her question. How _did_ I feel towards Amu? I had never been as close to her as Utau had, so I didn't share a similar bond of friendship with her. I could surely say there _was_ something _else_ there, an unnamed bond that couldn't be identified by any current knowledge of feelings or status. It was something that was currently dull and dormant within me. Perhaps it was the lock and key? But if that was the case, then that was a pretty shallow connection in my opinion. What _was_ there, whatever _it_ was, was certainly not a physical object. Kind of like… there was something more to the two of us that we weren't meant to know. At least, not now.

But since she was asking this question, it must mean that she thought I might feel the same way towards her as Utau did. Meaning, she didn't feel the same way I did toward her, which was bit annoyed by her mysteries. She felt differently. _But how different was it? What was the difference?_

"OKAY! There's work to be done, and not much time to do it!" You know, I truly hate it when I'm on a roll in my deep analysis of another person, or anything for that matter, and _SOMEONE_ comes and kills it! The deepness! It was there! I was so close to figuring it out! So why was it that my father was so incredibly good at ruining my tails of thought!? This was the second time today!

Amu fell face-first off the counter onto the tile out of the shock of my father's sudden shout. My dad was a loud man, especially when he was excited. This was predictable of him, so I wasn't as startled as Amu was.

"Dear, you don't need to be so thunderous… you're scaring our guest." My mother murmured, coming up behind him with a look of disapproval on her face. My dad made that _oops; I just screwed up_ face again, but played it off coolly.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Anyway! The good news is, we have most of the things in stock to make the cake! The bad news is, we're out of strawberries. So, you and Ikuto will-"

Wait; did he just say 'you and Ikuto'?

"Make the cake batter while Souko and I go buy the strawberries." My father held up two thousand yen as he spoke, waving it casually.

"Ok, that's fine, we'll get started right away – "

"No way!" All nine pairs of eyes turned their attention to me, "Amu and I will get the strawberries, _you two_ can start on the batter or whatever." Had they forgotten my hatred of baking!? There was no way I'd take any chances of possibly burning the house down!

"But, Ikuto-" Amu began her protest, but I didn't allow her to continue, grabbing her hand and brushing passed my parents, snatching the money from my dads grasp. We zoomed through the door and passed the gate of the house, only slowing down once we were two blocks away from the house. I sighed in relief upon this slow, happy to be out of the slightest indication that I may have to…

"I-I-Ikuto… can you – can you let go of m-my hand now…?" I looked back at her and raised an eyebrow, realizing that I had indeed forgotten to release her. With my face of unreadable emotions, I noticed that she was turning quite flustered just from this very simple contact, and smirked. I kind of liked her expression at the moment, and had no problem denying her request purely because of my selfish desire to continue enjoying it.

"No." I said simply, tightening my grip on her tiny hand and continuing the walk.

"No? Why!?" She demanded, her state of embarrassment mixing with one of anger.

"It's snowing. My hand is cold." I lied, although that it soon became reality with my free hand. I had forgotten to put on anything warm before I left in such a hurry, and this was the result.

"T-that's not a good enough excuse!"

"Well, I think it is. So the answer's still no." She grumbled a bit, but didn't bother attempting to yank her hand free, only mumbling _pervert_ as we continued our way toward the nearby store.

"How is holding someone else's hand any form of perversion?" I asked, directing my gaze at her again whist grinning.

"It just is!" She yelled, throwing her free hand up in the air.

"I see. That's quite a logical reason."

"Then let me go!"

"Nope."

"What if someone sees us!?"

"Well then you can say you're my little sister, that you're somewhat of a dunce and you get lost oh so easily..."

"Who would believe that pack of lies!? We don't look alike, and you've lived here your whole life, right? People would recognize you! Who'd believe you!?"

"…Then you can say you're my girlfriend, that you're somewhat of a dunce and you get lost…"

"No!! That's even worse!"

"…Mmm. Still, nah." It was kind of weird. I didn't normally act this way with Amu, and plus we were enemies now. So why wasn't I repelling her slightly? Perhaps there was some unknown force telling me to understand her more. Or maybe it was brought on by my own wishes and curiosity. Utau must be rubbing off on me…

"In any case, I'm disappointed in you! You need to stop running away from baking, its part of your life you know. And after all the time I spent this year helping you in home EC…"

"Who are you to lecture me?"

"Amu Hinamori, a girl whose much better at cooking and baking than you are, despite you _living_ **in** a bakery, can lecture you all she wants because she's better than you. Now let's hurry up. I don't have all day!" She said, picking up the pace. I effortlessly kept up with her, and we soon found ourselves at the grocery store. I released her hand upon stepping inside.

"We're here for strawberries, and nothing else!" She barked, grabbing a small shopping basket and heading for the fruits and vegetables isle.

"What makes you think I'd want anything?"

"I dunno, from what I've heard, don't guys your age enjoy buying weird magazines or something?" It took me a minute to catch onto what she was referring too, and I couldn't help but laugh.

"Do you honestly think I'd read something like that?"

"Read something like what?" She turned up her gaze of curiosity and confusion on me, frowning slightly.

"… Do you even know what you implied just now?"

"I implied something? I was just talking about weird magazines… what do you mean?" I blinked. So she had no idea what she was just…?

"Don't worry your pretty little head," I said sarcastically, patting her hair. She swatted my hand away as we turned into the isle, and I smirked at her actions.

"Strawberries, strawberries…" She mumbled as she wondered through the various cases of fresh fruit until she stumbled upon the red, slightly triangular berries.

"Okay, let's get these so we can hurry up and leave…" I said, reaching for some, only to have my hand smacked by an angered pinkquette.

"You can't just _pick_ _up_ any old strawberry! It must be small, it must not have a single tint of white on it…" she pointed to one of the strawberries I was about to pick up. "See that one? It's white at the top and the tip, so it might not be sweet! Plus, it's big! The small ones, if freshly picked, are normally sweeter than the larger ones."

I sighed and pushed my hands in my genes pockets. "You sure know a lot about strawberries, don't you?"

"Of course I do! Their Ami-chan's favorite, and as such, must be perfect to her liking. It is my duty as her sister to achieve this!"

"You sound like a servant to me."

"I do not! I'm only trying to give my little sister what she deserves." She replied snootily. We stood there for another two and a half minutes going back and forth about the subject as she dug through the pile of fruits, only picking out the ones she deemed 'worthy' for the cake. And soon after that, we were out of there, walking through the snow yet again. We continued walking back home, this time in silence. I recalled what Amu had just said about Ami, and connected it with the time I saw her memories through the lock and key. Was it because of that promise she made back then the reason she was doing this for her?

It was still bothering me how I suddenly felt compelled to be with Amu more, rather than dislike her for lying to all of us. I hadn't even brought up the subject yet, but I knew it was probably bothering her, especially after what happened… but, because of this, there was one thing I knew for sure.

"No." I said plainly. Amu looked at me, confusion in her facial features.

"No? What do you mean?"

"I don't hate you."

She smiled, but still gave a somewhat discouraging reply, "Did it take you until now to come up with that answer?" Frowning, I turned my attention to the sky. The grey clouds sure did look fascinating today…

"Well, haven't you noticed it?" I asked.

"Noticed what?"

I sighed. If she didn't notice that it had suddenly become much easier to talk to her, despite the fact that any normal person would find it awkward to have fun conversations with their newly-discovered enemy, then perhaps it wasn't worth mentioning.

"Nothing."

"You can't just ask me if I noticed something and not tell me what it is!"

"Of course I can. It's just something evident, yet unforeseen."

"Stop trying to sound all deep and obscure."

"It wouldn't sound that way if you had noticed in the first place."

"Noticed _what_!?"

"Let me ask you something," Putting on a serious expression, I turned my attention from the sky to her face, to which her response to this was a small tint of red playing her cheeks. "Doesn't today seem different than most for us?"

She remained silent for a moment, her gaze still locked onto mine as she thought. But just when it looked as though she might say something, we arrived home. Stepping inside the house again, I dismissed our previous conversation, and was silently thankful to have such a warm house to come home too.

"Ikuto, Amu!" There came my Dads voice, yet again. "If you've got the strawberries, get over here!" I sighed as I watched Amu zoom passed me and into the bakery's kitchen, trudging half-heartedly behind. Once there, I looked around, and it looked as though they had finished making the vanilla batter since the kitchen was a mess. As my parents and Amu chattered excitedly whilst taking out the strawberries, I noticed a soft ginger puff hiding under the table. I squatted down and tapped Lieu's head slightly, gaining his attention. He blinked at me sleepily, but despite that still rose to his paws and left the under table to jump atop it. Bad idea.

"Ikuto, you know Lieu isn't allowed in the kitchen! He'll get cat hair all in our pastries."

"Not my fault he hasn't gotten it through his thick scull that he's not allowed in here after having him for two years," I retorted, picking the cat up as I heard the front door open. Taking a wild guess at who it was, I left the kitchen to greet my twin sister, who waving goodbye too Kukai as he walked away. She turned to me, her expression noticeably happier than it had been before she left, but frowned.

"Ikuto, you're idiotic guardians left, and I have no clue where they've gone." She huffed. Yep, she was close to being back to normal again.

"They know the way home." I replied carelessly, "And Utau, when you get in the kitchen, don't do anything weird."

Her eyes widened a bit at this request, but she said nothing as she walked passed me and through the back door into the kitchen. Patting Lieu on the head as I held him, I waited for her expected response toward Amu being here.

"Three… two… one…"

"_Amu!_"

'_So much for the warning…'_ After much hugging and asking questions between the two girls, my parents finally suggested for all three of to go upstairs and chat there, and let them handle baking the cake. We were all probably in the way anyway, so I didn't have a problem with it. We all sat down on the large, fuzzy rug in Utau's room and soon their chatter began.

"Okay Amu. Explain. Now." Utau was blunt, and didn't seem to be as beat-around-the-bushy as I was. Amu, who sat with legs folded under herself, looked down in her lap as she replied.

"It's true, Utau. I do… work for Easter." Utau crossed her arms on this and huffed.

"I thought the point of being best friends was to tell each other everything." Why did I feel so out of place in this conversation?

"That's because I wasn't meant to be your best friend." Amu replied back rather meekly. She seemed to repent this reply though.

"What makes you say that?" I asked, hoping to make this a three-way conversation.

"I work for Easter."

"That's a stupid reply. If you weren't our friend, then how could we stand to talk to you civilized like this, despite knowing you're our enemy?"

"I thought you guys would hate me…" Amu replied honestly.

"We… we could never do that." Came Utau's stubborn rely, her arms remaining crossed and eyes averted from Amu's direction. Silence filled the room for a moment.

"This conversation is boring," I said, leaning up against the wall behind me, "So long story short, despite you being part of Easter, we don't hate you, yadda yadda… well, I'm not sure about how Kukai and Tadase feel about the whole situation. But anyway, why are you with Easter in the first place? You hardly seem as though you want to be with them."

"I told you already, I have no choice."

"… That doesn't explain _why_ though."

"Well the reason why is no ones business," Amu shot back. Getting defensive now, are we?

"I don't see how it isn't. Just look where hiding things from us has gotten you! As your friends, we deserve to know, don't we? How else can we help you?" Utau was becoming angry.

Amu stiffened, but remained close to her earlier statement, "I… I don't want help."

"Why?"

Amu stood up. "Look, I don't have to explain my motivations to anyone. I came here to bake Ami's cake, ask one simple question, and leave. I'd appreciate it if you two didn't breathe down my neck about everything!"

"How can you expect us _not_ to 'breath down your neck'!? Amu, do you not understand the seriousness of this situation? We're enemies now! We shouldn't even be in the same room together, talking with each other so casually like this!"

"Yet here we are…" I murmured, completed tuned into the conversation but not appearing as so.

"If you truly thought of us as your friends, you would tell us everything. You should be thankful we're not spiteful about all of this! The least you could do is answer one simple question for us!"

Amu recoiled at Utau's tone, her eyes shining with shock for a moment, but said nothing. Sighing, her expression turned into a somewhat depressed one as she reached into the pocket of her vest and pulled out a box, tossing it at me.

"Bring the cake with you tomorrow." And with that, she left Utau's room and the house, not to be seen again until the next day. Utau and I looked at each other for a minute before I stood up and left her room, closing it softly behind me. There wasn't much to say. There wasn't anything _too_ say. I wasn't sure how to comfort someone whose best friend just gets up and leaves them, so I decided the best thing to do would be to leave her alone.

Once I'd reached my room, I plopped down on my bed, staring at the box Amu had thrown at me. Something strange was going on with her. She was hiding something major from us, I could just feel it. The more that was unveiled about Amu, the more curious I felt myself becoming, and the less stressed I felt around her. Perhaps that was why I wasn't upset with her today.

What had just happened was a result of all the building tensions between the three of us. Amu was hiding so much from us, and I now realized that was causing Utau and I to become consumed with wanting to know more about her. With concealing everything about herself, also came the frustration of not being able to know. Because of my discovery of this, I now understood that although I wasn't as close to Amu as Utau had been in an obvious aspect, I was close to Amu in another unnamed aspect. But what was it?

Unable to come up with the answer, I began opening the box without thinking. What was inside caused a wave of relief to wash over me, but I couldn't understand why. Inside the box was my missing egg. Not surprisingly, the 'x' on it was still there. But why would Amu give this back to me, when it was obvious I didn't want it? Perhaps a better question would be: Why did Amu have it with her in the first place?

One thing was certain. Tomorrow during the party, I would begin my unraveling the mystery that was Amu.

~Nya.~

There was a soft humming sound filling the hallway as the escalator rose up, with a violet-haired boy awaiting its arrival. He barely heard the soft hum himself, as he was too busy thinking about his current issue to focus, but the ring of the elevator ripped him from his temporary trance and he stepped inside. Alone in this small space, he sighed and tried to relax a bit as he pressed the button of his destination. He had a meeting with his boss, and couldn't afford to be distracted.

Still, he could not forget what had happened almost three days before. The matter meant far too much to him, cut him too deeply, for him to even _dream_ about forgetting it so soon. Besides, not only was it important to himself, – which was for what he thought was a selfish reason – it was important to the cause of his worries as well. But she, the cause, could not comprehend his stress or his worry for her well being.

Why, he wondered, did she let herself become so attached with the enemy when she knew it would only damage her mentally and emotionally, even more so than she already was? Even after they, or more specifically Ikuto, found out which side she was truly on, which was an event she _knew_ was inevitable, she became upset enough to cry. And she became even more hysteric about this situation upon their walk back to the Easter HQ when she realized that Utau, the girl she allowed herself to become so close with, would soon find out as well, seeing as she wasn't there for the initial announcement. _"Nagihiko,"_ she had whimpered, _"They're all going to hate me now…"_

Why did she care for those two so much? Or better yet, why didn't she care for _himself_ as much as she did them? Perhaps he was being selfish for wishing her to care for him as she did their two enemies. But she was leading herself down a hopeless path of disappointment, searching for something that could never be obtained in an area she was looking through. When would she understand he cared for her more than anyone ever could? Why wasn't he enough for her? He was the only person who could understand her flaws, accept them all without a second thought, and still be completely happy being with her. Why did she care for strangers more than he, a friend she'd had ever since she joined Easter, one who went through the same pain as she?

His miserable thoughts were interrupted again when the elevator rang and he arrived at the second highest floor. He stepped out and proceeded toward his boss's office, knocking twice upon entry. Kazuomi grinned at him as he closed the door behind him, taking a seat only when he was invited to do so.

"Fujisaki-kun, I'm so glad you could make it." He greeted in his usual smoggy voice. Nagihiko bowed his head respectively.

"What was it you wanted to speak about, sir?"

The man leaned forward in his seat, resting his head on his crossed fingers with his elbows on the desk. "I called you here because I needed to fill you in on our recent developments. After working on these years, we have finally completed our work on the x-egg serum."

Nagihiko's eyes widened and he gasped slightly. "…Really?"

"Yes," Kazuomi confirmed, "We've collected enough x-eggs, and now we're ready to prepare for testing. And this is where you and my daughters come in. Or more specifically, Amu. For this experiment to work, she must be completely distraught, for that is the only moment the x-egg energy can seize control of her and her emotions. So tell me Nagihiko," he sat up in his seat. "Do you know of anything she's currently attached too? Anything she might be… on the obsessed side with?"

Nagihiko calculated this information, quickly coming to the conclusion that he could not allow this man to harm Amu any further. Now that he knew Kazuomi was finally reaching into the fine print of his contract with Amu, he knew he would have to protect her from anymore hurt.

"Yes," he replied so not to raise suspicion, "She became very attached to our opponents, the guardians, during her time of infiltration. But they have already discovered her identity about three days ago, and she's recovered from being upset, so using them as a vessel toward Amu's discontent is no longer a valid route to take."

Kazoumi nodded and closed his eyes as he pondered, rubbing his forehead.

"I see. Well, that won't be a problem. I was just trying to figure out if there was another way I could go about doing this. But, I already have the perfect solution. I've been saving it ever since I discovered a secret in the Hinamori family… something I was sure to make Midori hide from Amu." He turned his chair around, gazing out the giant window of his office.

"It is something that will come as such a shock to her that our experiment will undoubtedly work flawlessly."

Nagihiko suppressed the sudden surge of panic he felt, being sure to use a calm voice before he spoke. "Sir…?"

"Unfortunately, I can't give you the details. But come four days before Christmas Eve, and we will be ready to begin. You will know by then." He paused. "In the mean time, I need you to keep and eye on Amu for me, more so than usual. I can't have anyone, especially the Guardians, taint my plans… you are dismissed."

Nagihiko wasted no time leaving the office, bowing again before he left. Kazoumi's words were pounding in his head, and he placed a hand over his heart for a moment to keep the panic from starting up. What was Kazoumi going to do to Amu? He had been trying to prevent anything bad from happening to her ever since she joined Easter, but his boss apparently had other plans up his sleeve. Clutching his fist, Nagihiko decided.

No. Nagihiko _vowed_ to protect Amu, no matter what it was that he'd have to sacrifice.

* * *

**Alex's notes: **_The lady my mom buys strawberries from every weekend told us that little tidbit about strawberries – and it has so far held itself to be true. The small ones _are_ sweeter!  
_

_Heheh, I know I said chapters weren't gonna be as long as the last one was, but I decided to add the Nagihiko bit and well.. yeah. xD I lied. So sue me.  
_

_Yeah, sorry if you didn't like the time-skip, but there really wasn't anything important/interesting happening from August through November. It was necessary. Also, sorry if you found Utau a bit OOC, but I really need the two to be close friends. ;) I didn't think it was drastic though.  
_

_Well everyone, things are beginning to finally heat up, and many questions are about to be answered in the next chapter. What will happen while Ikuto and his family cater Ami's birthday party…? Some unforeseen things will be revealed about Amu, that I can assure.  
_

_The next chapter might be shorter than usual, but don't worry, it will be oh-so very rewarding/ juicy. However you wanna put it. Length will not matter. Another thing: I have summer homework for the two AP classes I'm taking next year at school, so I'm busy. It's A LOT of homework, and reading. X_x_

_ I know some of this chapter was babble, but I hope you enjoyed it.  
_

_Thankies so much for reading! :D Now__**, review please**__!_


	6. Amu’s detrimental parasitic thoughts?

**Alex's notes: **Mmm. Yeah, it's late. Reason's at the bottom. Oh well, it's here, and that's all that matters now, right? ;)

I'm normally more of a "_Show_ me, don't _tell_ me!" kind of person in writing, but this chapter is more tell than show, short but sweet, and very cut-to-the-chase. No beating around the bush here. Sorry if this makes it rather awkward. O.o  
Use your imagination for the surroundings this time around.

I also think I might have gotten the math on Amu and Ami's ages a bit messed up, but whatever, I'll figure it out later.  
I have no knowledge of medics. :D Just roll with it.__  
Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Shugo Chara! Peach-pit does.**

_The Miracle Swap_

_Chapter 6: Amu's detrimental parasitic thoughts!?_

"IKUTO-SAN! IKUTO-SAN! HE'S STABBING ME AGAIN, MAKE HIM STOP!!"

"I'm not stabbing him though nya, I was only trying to get something out of his face for him!"

"…With a fork?"

"…Yes."

"…"

The clang of silverware was something I should have grown used to by now. I had done catering jobs with my parents before, smiling as I passed around the food and all that crap. But I really just _hated_ that sound. Every time someone would drop a fork or knife in the kitchen, there would be gasp, a scatter of footsteps, and the person who never flinched would be the only one to actually go to pick up the darn thing.

I'm sorry. It just bothers me. Anyway, today was Monday, Ami's birthday. The destination had been at a very large, extravagant park, with tons of nicely cut bushes and streamers driving through the trees, adding that 'party-like' feeling. There was even a piñata, which was weird, since normally people in Japan don't have those at their birthday parties. The party began at a strange time, six to be exact, when the skies had begun to darken into orange and pink, and the sun, not too high up but still there to give a sufficient amount of warmth, despite it being winter. Really, even though it was winter, it wasn't all that cold, and it wasn't even snowing. Once all the kids had arrived, they all seemed happy to have some snow… fun time, or whatever.

My parents and Utau weren't the only caterers around as it turned out, but it was a much larger party than expected so that was something to be thankful for. We assisted (more rather, _they_ assisted) in the preparation of the food while I helped some of the workmen set up tables or whatever they needed help with that had nothing to do with cooking. It was a really simple catering job, since it was only for some kids who were only about ten. They didn't need to eat anything fancy.

They finished all of the cooking very early, making the catering a breeze. Since Utau and I always did the least amount of food preparation, we were the first to serve food for the first hour while our parents took a break. It wasn't all that difficult, just watch the tables at the kids stuck their grubby hands in the bowls and once it was empty, you swap it.

So here was the difficult part. The main reason Utau and I were so anxious about getting to the party in the first place was because we wanted another chance to try and talk with Amu. Surprise surprise, she avoided us. Like I didn't see that one coming… not only that, but she was also reasonably busy handling her little sister Ami. Ami was turning eight, and although she was rather bratty, at the same time she was more mature than most of the kids at the party. Meaning, she acted civilized, and seemed to have a much broader vocabulary than most at her age. But she still demanded the constant attention of her big sister, and Amu happily obliged. But I knew what to search for. That one moment where Ami would run off with her friends and Amu would have nothing in particular to do… I'd be sure she wouldn't escape then.

The best time to search for this opening would be when I was off, however. So after serving for almost _more_ than an hour, my parents and I finally switched shift, and Utau and I were free to go. Or at least, I was. Utau had to go make a few more pizzas at the last minute, leaving me to search for Amu alone, with only the accompaniment of Yoru and Orrick.

I wandered through the crowds of kids, making sure to dodge and avoid any snowball fights that anyone may be having. After looking around for more than ten minutes, it was proving difficult to find Amu. Ami was with her group of friends, chatting it up without her sister. That must mean she was alone _somewhere_. As a result, I began to look in less-obvious areas. She could be hiding…

"Nya, Ikuto…" Yoru mumbled as we approached one end of the park. This area was empty, the lanterns were dimly lit, and the snow on the ground was a bit higher than most areas. After walking through a clump of trees, I came along a bare path and began to walk upon it, taking a moment to enjoy the dim sound of music heard from the party that now seemed so far away.

"Mmm?"

"When you find Amu-chan, what are you gonna ask her?" I pondered this, not quite sure what I was going to ask her myself. I wanted to know why she worked for Easter, to put it bluntly, but I wasn't quite sure how to go about asking that question. She spazzed big time when I asked her the day before, but maybe tonight's atmosphere would help her be a bit calmer…? I doubted it.

"We'll see when we get there." I said rather indifferently, although that was simply a mask, for I was quite fidgety on this inside. Still, I was being driven by my untamable desire too know more about Amu, of which I hadn't noticed was there until the day before. Yesterday's events were locked in my head and replaying repeatedly, asking more annoying questions until I finally gave up and went to go find the answers.

Rounding one corner of the park, I came across a disturbance that wasn't really unusual. I guess I could say I was a smart guy for searching in such a desolate area of the park, for this was exactly where I found the pinkquette, sitting on a bench, staring at the ground with a very worried expression. My mind suddenly flickered back to the moment when at school when she had been so startled as I whispered in her ear _I lied_… maybe I should try that again.

As I sneaked around the main path to one behind the bench and through a few thickets of bracken, I came to the conclusion that sneaked up would be impossible because of the snow. But I realized that I wasn't in a bad place at all, for Amu was speaking to her guardian Chara Miki at the moment, the other two being no where to be found. An inviting chance to be nosy.

"We told you this would happen, Amu! Why didn't you just listen to me!?" A heated conversation? I wondered what the little blue Chara could be so angry about.

"I already told you why Miki… I can't help it. You should understand that more than anyone."

"I do! But it's not an excuse, because I believe you can do anything! I know it's been hard to cope with, but one day it won't be in any effect on you at all. You just have to try harder…"

Amu looked up at her guardian with a hopeless expression – "…but what about Ami?"

"That's all you ever think about, so it's the main problem! Tone it down a bit, will ya? Nothing will change between the two of you, I promise!"

She smiled someone halfheartedly, "Okay. But for tonight, I'm not going to change anything. It's her night."

Miki nodded, beaming. "Of course! It should be this way on anyone's birthday!" Just as she finished speaking, boots where heard shuffling against the snow as someone approached. I remained where I was as I watched a very excited Ami running towards her big sister, a huge smile on her face, eyes sparkling.

"Onei-chan! Onei-chaaaaan!" Amu turned to the direction of the sound and immediately her mood changed from gloomy to perky – the speed was almost scary.

"Ami-chan! What are you doing over here? Isn't it time to open presents?"

The little girl nodded, smile still intact. "But for my birthday this year, I want to hear big sister sing again! Like she did last year at the new year's party!"

Amu put on a sarcastic smile. "But… last year was supposed to be the last time…"

"Noooo!" Amu grabbed her sister's hand and began dragging her in the direction she came in, "you have too! It's my birthday! Pleeeeease, just this one time?" Amu's look softened a bit but she still looked unsure.

"I'm the birthday girl!"

"… Okay." Amazingly, Ami's smile grew even wider somehow, and she continued dragging her sister away, their voices fading as they walked down the path.

"I already picked out the song and everything!"

"Really? What is it?"

"It's…"

"Ikuto." I almost jumped at the sound of someone, who wasn't either of my guardians, saying my name. I looked beside me and noticed that Miki had stayed behind, and had somehow noticed me in my hiding place. Her expression was a rather expression_less_ one, with her blue eyes giving me their full attention.

"You know, you really should work on this 'hiding' thing, 'cause it doesn't work on me. I could sense Yoru from a mile away. You're lucky I didn't tell Amu."

I frowned, but didn't turn hostile, "Gee, thanks I guess…" She beckoned for me to follow her as she floated toward the bench, sitting herself atop its back. I obeyed, and sat down feeling slightly awkward. What could this little Chara have to do with me?

She started immediately, not letting a silence fall to create a serious atmosphere, for it was already there. "You've known I've been with Amu for awhile now, haven't you?" I raised an eyebrow as I prepared a reply, but she continued. "And yet, you still kept it a secret. Why would you do that, despite it being so suspicious?"

I was taken aback by both her statement and questions, and for a second didn't think of coming up with a reply. "Aren't you supposed to keep secrets that aren't yours?"

She blinked. "Is that you're reason?"

"I always thought there was a reason for everything, but then, we're not supposed to know everything. So when I find something I'm not supposed to know about, I keep it to myself. It wasn't my business anyway."

She seemed to like my reply, and smiled. "I'm glad Amu knows someone like you."

I shrugged. Despite me saying that, I was a very nosy character. People just didn't know that about me just because I didn't go around gossiping ever piece of information I found, nor looked for any at all, but this did not mean I had no level of curiosity. In fact, my curiosity was very high on certain subjects. I just knew how to keep it at bay, unlike some people.

Miki giggled and floated up a bit. "You know, I like you Ikuto, even if you're a little mysterious yourself. I think I can trust you with a huge favor." _I_, a mysterious person? Never heard that one before. And a favor…? I didn't have time for that.

"Listen, I don't have time for this idle chit-chat. Utau and I are going to find out about Amu one way or another, and if you're just trying to stall me while she gets away or something, then you should just give up. I've got stuff to do." I got up from the bench and began walking down the path Amu and Ami had taken, but the little blue Chara didn't let up.

"But, Ikuto! I really do need you to do a favor for me. It's not just for me, but for Amu too!"

"What kind of favor?" Orrick asked for me as I walked in silence, having remained quiet whilst she spoke.

"The kind that will get you the answers you seek." I stopped abruptly. She had me there.

"I'm listening." Miki immediately became a lot more serious, the smile on her face fading to somewhat of a frown.

"You want to know about Amu, don't you? About the way she is, and why she acts the way she does… and why she's in Easter. That's what you want to know, right?" I answered her with a simple stare, and she turned around.

"No one outside of Amu's family and the Easter company understand he predicament. She never tells anyone or talks about it, which causes her to act strangely sometimes… but…" she paused for a long moment. The quiet was so intense that I could hear the distant humming of people speaking back at the main party area.

"But, if Amu had someone who understood her outside of that zone, then maybe she would get better. She seems to trust you and Utau a lot – and that's why we've decided it's important for you two to know a lot more than you do right now."

"Wait, wait – who is 'we'? And what do you mean by 'get better'?"

She turned back around to face me, same expression as before. "You'll find out in a minute. But you won't be able to understand everything if we don't hurry back to the party."

"Why?"

"I just said you'd find out in a minute! Just follow me, but don't let Amu see you!" She zoomed off in a different direction then planned, and I had no choice but to follow. A chance to discover anything about Amu was something not to be passed up on – it was my current biggest priority, after all. Besides, what did I have to lose?

Once we had arrived back at the party, things seemed a bit livelier than it they were before. People had gathered and sat around the tables, chattering and what not as they ate whatever food was there, and I noted that both my parents and Utau were all once again busy in the kitchen. I knew they probably needed my help and were wondering where I was, but I had something more important to attend to at the moment.

Wow, Amu sure had made her way to the top list of main concerns quickly, didn't she? It was rather strange. Up until yesterday, I hadn't been interested enough in Amu's life to look into it, but now… I had the drive to do so. Maybe I wasn't as in control of my curiosity as I thought I was.

Miki led the three of us through a large group of trees after passing by my parents until we came upon a specific table that was near the edge of the parks small forest – Amu and Ami's table. I did a character change with Yoru and climbed up to stay out of sight, since Miki had urged we not be caught. With everyone at their tables, it was impossible to hear what they were discussing because of all the noise. Amu had a mortified look on her face – red and shaking her hands as though she was objecting to an idea, which seemed to be the case because her little sister was looking up at her, grinning somewhat evilly as she nodded. It was at this moment that I noticed something about the two sisters – besides their eye color, they really didn't look alike very much. Amu had pink hair; while Ami had sandy brown hair… and their facial features were slightly different. It made me wonder if Amu dyed her hair or something.

Eventually it looked as though Amu gave into whatever her sister's demands were, as Ami suddenly twirled away from the table and came back with something black in her hand – shoving it into Amu's grasp as she pushed her sister toward the center of the tables.

"_Now_!" Miki suddenly yelled. I blinked – what were we supposed to be doing? Apparently, Orrick and Yoru were already filled in on the 'plan' or whatever was going on, because they flew over toward the table after Miki toward Amu and Ami's empty table as if on cue, returning a few seconds later with a key. But not just any key – the dumpty key… what did we need the dumpy key for?

"Ikuto," Miki said with urgency as Yoru and Orrick placed the key in my palm, "Amu's about to sing. When she does, try to unlock the humpty lock."

"… but why do I have to while she's singing? Can't I just go ahead and -"

"No! After yesterday, distance was created between you and Amu, so you can't just shove it in there and expect it to work! The only way for this to work now is if you try to unlock it while Amu's being her true self – or at least trying."

I frowned. "Amu's true self… is a singer?" I asked sarcastically, but Miki replied with a serious nod.

"You'll understand soon. Just wait." Still somewhat irritated at the fact that I understood nothing about the situation, I got comfortable on the branch I was in as I waited for Amu to begin. The audience had quieted down quite a bit, seeming to know what was about to happen, and Amu was still in some form of argument with Ami. Since I was in a character change with Yoru, however, I had no trouble hearing what the two were discussing. It was a pretty guessable conversation.

"B-b-but, Ami! I haven't even done any warm-up's yet!"

"You'll do fine; you're a great singer as it is. Besides, I like big sister voice in every way it comes – so just sing! I'll be happy." Amu's golden eyes widened a bit and she put on a somewhat forced smile. Couldn't say 'no' to that one.

"I suppose it _is_ you're birthday…" she murmured in defeat. Ami smiled triumphantly and grabbed the black item she had given Amu earlier out of her hand, and I noticed it was a microphone.

"Attention please! _Attention_!" Like she needed it. All eyes were already on her as it was. "For my birthday this year, my wonderful big sister is going to sing a song! So give a round of applause for~ Amuuuu!" So of course the dramatic applause ensued and she smiled nervously, watching as her sister left her side to sit at her table again. Ami gave her a thumbs up, but Amu just stuck her tongue out at her in protest, but stopped when the lights around the area dimmed slightly, then casted their beams on her

_There's a song that's inside of my soul.  
It's the one that I've tried  
to write over and over again_

Listening to these simple first lines, I realized that Amu wasn't a half bad singer. She was actually _good_. So good, that I now felt stupid for making all those comments I made about her voice sound terrible. "Ikuto, look! Pay attention!"

_I'm awake in the infinite cold.  
But you sing to me over and over and over again…_

I snapped out of my light trance and looked down at the dumpty key – the moment she had begun to sing, it's radiance glittered a bit more with every word, until the point to where I thought I might have to hide it so we wouldn't be spotted. I pulled the humpty lock out of my pocket and examined it. It, too, had a glow of it, but it was dim in comparison to the key.

"Nyah… well would ya look at that…" Yoru mumbled over my shoulder, dazzled by its light.

"This is no time to be amazed, now's the time to put the key in the lock! C'mon, hop to it!" Miki rushed. I huffed.

"I knew that…" I shoved the key in the lock, and was surprised of how there seemed to be some sort of positive force pulling it in as I did so. A second or so after I did this, the lock began to glow with the same light as the key, and my vision suddenly faded from the scene of Amu singing to a similar view of what had happened the last time I had put in the key. But this time was slightly different. Instead, the memories seemed to all be chopped up and separated into different bubbles, each having something different going on in them. All the while, I could still hear Amu's singing somewhere, but it was very muffled, and becoming less clear by the second…

…_To be only yours, I pray, to be only yours  
I know now you're my only hope._

"Ikuto." I looked to my side, and noticed Miki, Orrick, and Yoru were still with me. "If you want to fully understand Amu, then you need to understand her past first. People don't notice it, but we Shugo Chara are always watching over them, even before we've hatched. That is why we always understand the person we represent."

She turned and looked around for a bit, until finally her eyes seemed to catch something. I looked in the direction she was staring, and saw an outline of what looked like a Shugo chara. But it was impossible to tell, for it was as I said, _outlined._ Outlined with orange, with inside details completely shrouded in black. The only thing I _could_ make out, were two pony tails jutting from its head. I blinked.

_Sing to me the song of the stars.  
Of your galaxy dancing and laughing and laughing again..._

"What is that?"

"Her name is Dia." Miki answer simply. The figure approached us and spoke, which was kind of creepy since it didn't look like it had a mouth or anything…

"Really, who I am isn't important at the moment. What _is_ important is that we hurry before what little radiance Amu has left dies out. It may linger after the song, but still." Miki nodded in approval.

"Let's begin then, shall we?" I nodded with uncertainty, having no idea what they were referring too. But the instance seemed familiar again when I found myself in some sort of undefined area suddenly, kind of like a ghost looking through the walls, peering at its inhabitance. '_Well, this is different.'_

A very young, not even six years of age Amu was standing in a corner of the room – from the looks of it, _her_ room, what with all the stuffed animals and whatnot. Her hair, still pink (which answered my question of weather or not it was natural), was short but down, with two tiny strands sticking out from the top, held there by rubber bands. She had on jean overalls with a giant sunflower plastered on the front. She was digging through a pile of what looked liked CD cases, with a very frustrated look on her face.

"No… nope… not that one…" she was going through entire stacks of them at a shocking speed. "Where is it!?" At the moment she asked that, a jolly looking man stepped into her room, his hair a dark brown but lightly sandy at the top, with a camera in hand.

"Amu-chaaaan! It's time too – hey, wait, what's wrong?" He asked when he noticed her upset face. She pouted.

"Papa! I think I lost a CD you gave to me…" She said solemnly. But the man only shrugged and smiled.

"No need to worry, I probably just borrowed it and left it somewhere. We can find it when we get back! Now come on, we'll be late for the hike!" Amu managed to smile, nodding and taking her fathers hand, and the two set off down the stairs. Here, I saw that her Mom was in the kitchen reading a news paper.

"Midori-chan! Amu and I will be back in a few hours!~"

The woman nodded, smiling. "Just remember to bring bug spray with you!"

"Okay, what's the point in showing me this?" I asked, unable to understand _why_ this particular memory was so important. "You're not gonna make me watch their whole hike, are you?" Miki shook her head.

"This was just an example to show something. At this stage in Amu's life, Ami was not born yet. Amu was a complete 'daddy's little girl' type, and one might call her a bit spoiled since she was an only child. At this time, Amu and her mother did not have as strong a bond as Amu and her father shared.

"Oh, I see…" I mumbled. It was strange to think that parental bonds varied in some families. In my family, I thought of and cared for my parents equally, and I personally had no preference. They, in turn, did not treat me as their 'favorite child', nor did they do so for Utau. Everyone treated each other equally…

"Back then," Dia spoke up, "Amu was collecting CD's. She, although she didn't mention it, was collecting them because of her own desires to sing herself. Her father always bought her new CD's and cassettes and the like, and Amu, being the daddy's girl she was, treasured each one and became very upset if she couldn't find one." She giggled at that last part.

"But things changed when Ami began to come into the picture…" Miki sighed. Our view of Amu's memories instantaneously switch. Amu looked older, about seven or eight now, and she was in a hospital waiting room, alone, looking rather discouraged. It was then, that I realized I could hear her thoughts.

"'_Germy'…? How could that nurse say that? I always wash my hands! How could I contaminate a baby!? I'm not sick or anything. I just wanted to take a look at her…" _She sighed, resting her head in her palms, her elbows resting on her legs, which were swinging from the bench she was on. She sat there for a few more moments before her father stepped out of the room before her, his face beaming with pride. Which is weird, since he probably wasn't the one who just delivered a baby. Amu perked up at his demeanor, probably sensing it was something positive.

"Papa! Can I see Ami now?" Her honey shaded eyes shined with hope, but her father's expression dropped a bit, yet a smile still intact.

"Sorry Amu-chan, but the doctors said they still have some check-ups to run on her tonight. Ami and Mama will probably be here until tomorrow. In the mean time, we should probably go home so you _and_ mama can get some sleep." He took her hand and started down the hallway, but not without a few protests from Amu.

"But, Papa, I'm not even sleepy yet!" I wouldn't be very tired either if I had to sit the whole time with nothing to do while I waited for a baby to be delivered.

"Ah, but look at it this way – when we come back tomorrow, you'll be fully energized!"

_  
_ Amu contemplated this, and the new look of content in her expression proved she had taken the bait, and was willing to wait until the next day to see her new sister. The memory flashed to the next day, with Amu walking down the halls of the same hospital with a huge smile on her face, swinging the arm she held her fathers hand in. He, on the other hand, had a very wary smile.

"Mama looked so tired!" She exclaimed, but despite this news still looked happy.

"Yeah, Mama's gonna be tired for awhile…" Her father said quietly, using a forced happy tone. Young and naïve Amu was oblivious to notice this though.

"That's okay! _We_ can take care of Ami for her until she's ready! Right, Papa?" She looked up at her father as they continued down a hall toward a door near the back, a large window with a few newborns, sleeping. Amu released her hand and ran toward the window, pushing her face against it.

"Papa! Which one is Ami!? Show me, show me!" He chuckled a bit, but it still sounded wary. He took her hand and brought her into the room.

"Ami isn't in the window, she's over here…" He led her away from the front of the room, towards the back, where there were a lot more medical instruments about.

There was one in particular that stood out. An incubator running in the back, with a child in it, whom of which had a similar shade of brown on her head in comparison to Amu's father.

"Papa," Amu began, sounding more confused than upset, "Is this Ami? Why is she in a tank? She's not a fish is she??"

"No honey," her father began, "Ami's in a "tank" because she's a little sick. But the doctors said she should get better be ready to come home with us in a few days."

"She's sick…" Amu looked up at her dad with a tinge of devastation in her expression, "Is it a really bad kind of sick?"

Looking at his daughter's expression, I wasn't surprised when he replied, "No dear, it's nothing serious." But _his_ expression gave away that he was telling a complete lie. Of course, Amu was again too young to catch this, and believed her fathers words without a second thought. After all, children never think to distrust their parents.

So, with Ami in an incubator, this obviously meant she had some serious health problems.

"Actually, Ami was diagnosed with heart disease and failure, though Amu wasn't told this until much later." Miki explained as if answering my thoughts, "But apparently Ami received some sort of transplant when she got older."

"_Apparently!_?"

"As in 'can't say for sure'."

Once again, the vision flickered, and it looked like we were seeing slightly fast forwarded events. It began with Amu and her family coming home, with Ami in hand, everyone all smiles.

"Well, you can see where this is going. At first, Amu-chan was excited to have a baby sister, but because of her condition, Ami needed more attention than her older sister. Raising a child with heart disease is a difficult thing to do, they must be watched and checked even more so than regular newborns. Her father stopped buying her CD's as often as he once did, he didn't take her out as often, and her mom was completely absorbed in the babies well being, so she an Amu grew even more distant than they once were. Amu grew lonely… and then, envious of Ami."

"So," Dia spoke in place of Miki, "Amu decided she needed to do something that would make her parents notice her again. When she was ten, there was an upcoming talent show at her school, and she decided to try singing. Her parents agreed without a single second thought on going to see her perform, but on that night during the performances, Ami was experiencing heart problems, so they had to leave to bring her to the hospital… and it was because of this event, that Amu changed and stopped being herself."

"How so?" Orrick asked, probably unhappy to hear that one of his favorite people had an issue of the like.

"She just stopped caring. Or at least pretended too do so. She put on a rather emotionless façade and stopped collecting CD's and hanging out with her father, and her jealousy for Ami grew to a disliking toward her. Which is upsetting, because Ami adored her, but Amu didn't see it back then. She began to see Ami as an obstacle."

"But if Amu disliked her so much back then, why is it that now she's obsessed with her?" I dared ask the question. Of course I always thought Amu seemed a bit obsessive when it came to her sister, but I never mentioned it out loud. Saying it now seemed a bit weird.

"Well, that's happened because they were separated for two years. One day, her father just got up and left, taking Ami with him, leaving Amu with her mother. During that time, neither of them saw or heard from each other, and Amu began to worry about the two of them. It was only after they left that Amu was informed that Ami had heart disease. So she began to realize she had taken her little sister for granted while she was gone, and regretted not cherishing her more."

And then, I remembered something Amu had said when we first met –

"_Your memories are nothing compared to mine. You think your life sucks? If you do, then you know nothing about life. That memory you saw was one of my most precious ones for reasons you'll never understand… and it shouldn't be that way. So don't complain to me about your petty violin issues and family problems."_

So that's what she had meant… today's mood just seemed to be sinking more and more. My family issues _did_ seem rather 'petty' in comparison.

"Ami and her father were gone for two years." Miki's voice shook my out of my thoughts again, "During that time, Midori was having trouble paying the bills and all that. She was used to having help from Tsumugu, and immediately ran into problems after he left, because there was no fifty fifty split. Now, this is where Easter comes in."

_About time._

"Midori married into the rich Hoshino family, head of Easter. Although they allowed Amu to keep her last name. But to have access to the riches in the family, Midori had to put Amu into a contract with Easter, forcing her to work for them. The only way for Amu to get out of such a contract was to collect enough x-eggs to suffice her boss." So it hadn't been Amu's _choice_ to join Easter, but instead her mother signed her off to them…? Well – I felt like a pile of crap now for judging her.

"Tsumugu leaving hit Amu hard, though. They had been extremely close, especially before Ami was born, and when he left Amu felt as though he had betrayed her… so, she actually took drastic measures to cut him out of her thoughts by burning every picture she could find of him, and cutting out his head in a picture with Ami and him in it. But two years went by after her father left, and something had happened to where Tsumugu could no longer care for Ami. So Ami was sent back to live with Midori, and I'm sure you can imagine how excited Amu was."

I remembered that too – _"I did! I'm so sorry Ami; I should have been a better big sister… but now… I can start all over again! I'll make up all these years to you, I promise! I'll be the best big sister ever!"_

"But then a new problem arouse. Ami was then also forced into a contract with Easter, but she couldn't, and still to this day can't see Shugo Charas, so she couldn't help collect the eggs it took to get out of the contract. Amu, on the other hand, had already collected all she needed to get out of the contract by that time. But the only way she could help Ami get x-eggs was if she stayed _in_ her contract, so instead of getting out while she had the chance, she stayed in Easter to help Ami…"

"And then her weird behavior started." Dia said.

"Weird behavior?"

"It's normal to you. Amu has always been this way when she's around you and Utau. Amu became obsessed with everything to do with Ami, and obeyed her every command. Probably to atone for her neglecting her in the earlier years. But it's become ridiculous… Amu drops everything for Ami, it's like she doesn't even have a life for herself now. Her mother noticed it too, and took her to get psychological help after Amu didn't seem to snap out of it. And then…" she paused. I twitched. How could she stop when they story was getting so good!?

"And_ then_…?"

"Well… then, Amu was diagnosed with some form of codependency."

"Codependency?" Was I supposed to know what that was?

"Well, to put it simply, when Amu cares about someone, she becomes obsessed with whatever problems they may have and starts caring about them more than she does for herself. She might get angry when she can't fix someone else's problems, she'll try to please other people rather than herself, she only feels right when she's giving, and feels wrong when she receives anything in return, or she might get upset if someone doesn't accept a gift. She'll abandon her routine, in this case it was the guardians, for something else, and in this case it's Ami. When she went to see a psychologist, they said the most common cause of this condition in people was because of family issues. So in this case, the whole family ordeal kind made Amu… how should I put this…"

"Mental?" Yoru suggested.

"My Amu is _not_ mental!!" Orrick protested, his normally monotone red eyes beginning to blaze.

"Eeeh, it may not be far from the truth." Miki admitted. "Although, unlike some mental issues, Codependence is absolutely curable. Though, Amu can't really be cured right now, because of a few circumstances…"

"Like?" I was getting tired of having to ask her to continue!

"Well first of all, if a person doesn't want help, you can't give it to them. Amu always blows me off then I try to pry her off her tendencies, and that makes it impossible to help her. Suu and Ran aren't quite sure what to do either, so they simply support whatever she chooses to do, which only makes things worse. And I have a theory, that somehow, for some reason, Amu is slowly becoming fixated on you and Utau as well."

I was, once again, taken aback by her statements. "What gave you that idea? What's so interesting about Utau and I that she'd care about us?"

"I'm not sure why. But I know she is, because she's already in what I'd like to call 'stage one' with you two. That time she repaired your violin? Or all those times when she made a mistake around you two and went out of her way to try to make up for it? That's 'stage one'." That clicked. I'd hate to see stage two, though.

"Midori has always tried to make sure Amu doesn't get to close to anyone, which was why she was nervous that one time you came over. She knows what will happen if she allows Amu to do so, but Amu has never been close to her, so she tends to get in a lot of arguments with her… and it never works. Amu just can't see that Midori is trying to help her, not hurt her, and she sees it as simply restrictions."

"And that's not all;" Dia poked in again, "There is another issue. Ever since the incident with the talent show, Amu hasn't been in touch with the singing aspect of herself. She kind of abandoned it that day. The only reason she sings these days is because someone asks her too, which is very rare, and it has to be Ami who's asking or else she won't do it.

"Ikuto, do you know why Dia is the way she is now?" Miki asked.

How was I supposed to know the answer to that question? I frowned, and she seemed to get the message.

"Hm… Well, we're running out of time now, so to make a long story short, Dia will disappear if Amu continues to not recognize her."

"What? But… how could you just disappear?"

"It's true, Ikuto…" Yoru looked at me with a solemn face. "When someone doesn't believe in their guardian, or neglects them and pretends their not there, we just disappear…"

Miki nodded, "Dia was born at the same time as Ran, Miki, Suu and I, but she never hatched because by the time we were all born, Amu had already given up on her dream of singing. She wasn't born an x-egg though, because deep down Amu still loves to sing, but she just won't come to terms with herself on it."

"Ikuto! Ikutooooo! Come down from that tree already, you can't hide from the kitchen forever!" Suddenly, the serious atmosphere was killed by the sound of Utau calling up to me. I blinked, and all the visions were gone in an instant, the real world taking its place before my eyes again. The sun was completely gone now, and the sky was turning its usual midnight blue. How long had I been out? I looked down at the lock and key in my hands, their glow having already disappeared. So as it seemed, they were the link to the memories of each others owners… but why us?

"IKUTO."

"What?!"

"Come _on_! The party's already over; it's time to clean up!" I reluctantly got up from my comfortable spot in the tree and leaped down in front of her, she jumped back in surprise.

"Were you sleeping or something?" She asked; a dumbfounded expression on her face.

"Guess you could say that," I brought one of my hands behind my back and opened my palm, allowing Miki to grab the key before flying off somewhere.

"Hm. Well, you missed a lot. Amu sang, and she sounded really good. Then Rima and Yaya were here, and I got a chance to speak to Amu, and we all planned to have a… a…"

"…a…?"

"Slumber party…. At Yaya's house." I smirked. That was _so_ not something she'd normally attended.

"Stop smiling! It was Yaya's idea, not mine." She huffed and crossed her arms, averting her gaze from me. But I knew she was probably happy, she had never been to one of these 'slumber parties' before. "Anyway, Amu apologized and said she'd tell me everything, so we can finally figure out what's up. It's going to be four days before Christmas, so be prepared to be alone that night."

I nodded rather numbly, and then followed her to the kitchen. Amu was going to _'fill her in'_? If only Utau had seen what I'd seen this night. I probably knew more about Amu now than Amu did herself, and that was rather unsettling. So she was codependent… and Ami had heart disease? Well, then again, they mentioned something about a heart transplant but Miki and Dia never got to explain that. In fact, they didn't get to explain a lot of things. Like what they wanted my help with in the first place.

But I was certain of one thing – Amu needed help. If she wasn't going to accept help from her guardians or her own mother, then who else could she turn too? But if she had some sort of attraction to Utau and I… then maybe we could be the ones to help her. Not only that, but maybe if she got Ami out of that contract, she herself could be freed. If that happened, maybe she could feel as though she redeemed herself then…

Either way, I wasn't quite sure what to do with the information I'd just been fed. I'd have to sleep on it.

For now.

_**Alex's notes: **__**  
**_As you can see, in _this_ story, the Charas know more than they normally would about their owner as opposed to the anime.  
Well anyway. Sorry it's late; I had a couple things stressing me out two weeks ago, so I couldn't concentrate on writing... Then once I finally got down to finishing this chapter, my internet went down for a week. -_- -_Shoots AT&T-_

But on the flip side – I'm finished with the next chapter already, so that'll be released real soon.

_Thankies for reading! Now__**, review please**__!_


	7. Shattering reason

_**Alex's notes:**_ I planned for this chapter to be short, even before I wrote the first chapter. It's important though, hope you all don't mind.

My internet went down as I was finishing up the last chapter, and I couldn't upload it for a few days. So I thought: "Since I have nothing else to do right now, and chapter seven is going to be a short one, why not just finish that one too?"

So here it is! I hope it atones for my tardiness on the last chapter. :[ Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Shugo Chara! Peach-pit does.  


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_The Miracle Swap  
Chapter 7: Shattering reason._

I found myself alone at home, four days before Christmas, sitting in front of the T.V with Orrick and Yoru doing nothing in particular. My parents had left the night before, as they had that convention to go too, so Utau and I would have the house to ourselves for the about a week.

Utau had left early that morning, leaving to shop with Amu, Rima, and Yaya at a mall for various 'slumber party' things like candy… and clothes… yeah, I don't really understand why you'd need new clothes, but you know, what ever floats their boat.

Either way, I was bored out of my mind. Yoru was taking a cat nap so he wasn't very entertaining, and Orrick, being the slightly silent type he was, wasn't very talkative. I still hadn't decided what I was going to do about Amu either. I had slowly digested all the information I got on her, but that didn't seem to quell me. I needed something else from Amu, but didn't quite understand what it was. I hadn't told Utau of what had happened yet, because I wasn't quite sure of what to make of it all myself. And Tadase and Kukai were completely clueless on the whole situation as well; they didn't even know we'd catered for her. Utau and I had decided it would be best not to say anything yet until we, or more rather she, found out more about Amu.

Sighing, I changed the T.V channel to the weather. Oddly, it was going to rain today, despite it normally snowing this time of year. I wondered: Did Utau know this? She would _not_ be happy if she had to walk home in the rain without an umbrella…

Speak of the devil, the phone suddenly rung, my sister calling me as if on cue. I answered it with indifference.

"What?"

"What do you mean 'what'? That's not how you answer the phone, how rude!"

"Whatever. You're interrupting my day of… fun and excitement. What do you want?"

I heard her sigh from the other side of the line. "Look, don't ask any questions. Just get over to the mall right now so you can knock some sense into Amu."

"Knock some sense into – what?"

"You're asking questions. Just get your butt over here! We'll be waiting by the toy store." There was a click, and I closed my cell phone, frowning.

"Ikuto-san…?" Orrick looked up at me from the couch, curious.

"That was Utau… she called, telling me to 'knock some sense into Amu,' whatever that means."

He rose from his seat, suddenly fired up. "If Amu needs our help, we need to give it to her!" Great. Leave it to Orrick to side with anything that was pro-Amu. But he was right, Utau normally didn't ask for help on things like this, so it must be somewhat dire. Once I'd woken Yoru up, I slipped into my jacket and headed out – making sure to bring an umbrella with me just in case.

~Nya.~

I wouldn't say Utau's reason for calling me to the mall was stupid, but it was definitely… unconventional, to say the least. When I arrived at the toy store, I was surprised to see all four girls actually _in_ the toy store. They were in the stuffed animal section, Utau having her hands on her hips in an annoyed stance, and Yaya and Rima looked absolutely thunderstruck. Utau didn't say a word to me when I came in, she just continued to watch the spectacle before us, motioning for me to go in.

Then, there was Amu. Speeding through isles and glancing at every toy, picking some up, throwing some onto the floor after examination, and carrying on. A store cleric was following after her, hopelessness clinging to the tone of his voice.

"M-miss! Please stop throwing stuff onto the floor!"

Amu turned around to face him and whined. "But you have _zero_ toys suitable for Ami! How am I supposed to say "Merry Christmas Ami-chan!" when you've got nothing good for me to offer her!?"

The store clerk looked like he was about to cry. "B-b-but -"

"She's done now," I said after coming up behind her, and she jumped in shock without delay as expected, dropping the toy she had in hand.

"I-I-Ikuto!?" I ignored her for a second and glanced down at the clerk, smirking and shooing him away silently. He smiled with relief and scurried off to the other end of the isle, putting things back on their shelves. It was then that I turned back to Amu.

"… What in the _world_ are you doing?"

She seemed unfazed by the tone I'd asked the question in, and answered simply. "Looking for a Christmas present for Ami. Since she and my Mom are in a meeting at Easter's HQ right now, I thought it might be a good time to go out and get it since I didn't have the chance too yet…"

"Okay – but why do you have to turn the whole store upside down just for one present?"

She crossed her arms and huffed, "Ami deserves the best, so I'll go through every inch of the store until I find the perfect present!"

I frowned and remained silent for a moment. I glanced around and saw Ran, Miki, and Suu nearby. Suu looked rather upset, Ran was scowling, and Miki merely shrugged with an "I told ya so" look on her face. So this is what she meant by '_acting strangely'_…

"Well, I think," I picked up the toy she had dropped after I startled her – it was one of those typical huge teddy bears, accept this one was colored rather strangely, with it's stitches being of odd colors, of which separated the bear to make different colorful patches. "I think Ami be overjoyed to see something like this under the Christmas tree, don't you?"

Amu didn't look convinced, and wore a confused expression, "But she's more used to me buying her collectible glass dolls… I wasn't able to find any this year though, so I was hoping to find something similar."

I sighed and set the bear on the floor. She was missing the point. Had she never heard of the phrase '_it's the thought that counts?' _

"Amu, think a little more clearly here. Ami's your sister; wouldn't she be happy with _anything_ you gave her?" Come on, it was so simple! "Besides, it's cute." Smirking, I punched it lightly and it fell over to the ground, squeaking.

"See? What kid sister wouldn't love that?" I could personally think of one sister I knew who would have loved one of these when she was little…

"Well… I suppose you're right, but-"

"No 'buts'. You just said I'm right, didn't you? So to the register we go!"

"Ueh!?" I shoved the bear in her hands and pushed her to the line, from where she stared after me with a baffled expression. I walked back toward Utau and her friends, smiling with accomplishment.

"Whoa, _good job_!" Yaya said, giving me a thumbs up with a serious expression, "I thought we'd never pry Amu-chi out of here! We tried everything, but she wouldn't budge!"

"I guess you are somewhat useful." Rima mumbled, her face passive and rather emotionless. I shrugged.

"She's not that hard to figure out." _But I wouldn't be saying that if it hadn't been for last night but whatever…_

"Well, moving on, I think we're done in the mall for today." Rima and Yaya nodded in agreement with Utau's statement, "I think we should all just head to Yaya's house right now." _Great, now I'm going to be stuck at home with nothing to do…_

Amu approached us again with her phone in one hand, and the giant teddy bear under her arm in the other, the receipt stuck on its forehead. She looked absolutely furious.

"What's up?" Yaya asked her upon her arrival. She sighed.

"I just got a call from my job… and they suddenly decided my presence was needed at a meeting! What part of 'day off' don't they understand!? But it shouldn't last for more than thirty minutes, since it's almost over anyway..." She turned to me, scowling.

"And you know what!? Where am I supposed to _hide_ this thing for the next four days, huh!? It's too big to put anywhere!"

I shrugged sarcastically, "How should I know, you bought it…"

"But it was _your_ idea! _You_ can take it and hide it in _your _room until I come to pick it up!" She shoved it in my grasp and turned around. "Actually, I could probably put it in my attic and no one would notice, but I can't show up to work with that thing. So just take it home for now, I'll be at your house in an hour to pick it up."

"Fine…" I was going to look ridiculous carrying this thing all the way home…

"And after I do that, I'll come to your house right away!" Amu said to Yaya, who nodded.

"Okay then, see you tonight Amu-chi!" And with that, the three of them left. I stood next to Amu in silence for a few moments before asking –

"You're not really going to make me go home carrying this, are you?"

"Of course I am." Then she smiled and said, "Remember, I'll be there in an hour."

~Nya.~

It had been really awkward walking home. Normally, most people wouldn't see a guy walking down the street holding a giant teddy bear unless, like, their little sister was with them, because that would indicate they were just being nice enough to hold it. But I wasn't, so I had earned myself quite a few stares. Plus I was still carrying that umbrella too, and it wasn't even raining. Then again, it _was_ almost Christmas. Anything was possible at this time of year, I suppose...

But that was the least of my worries. Once I'd arrived home, I left the bear at the door and continued on as I normally would have that day – doing nothing of particular importance. I was kind of okay with this though, because I still had that concert I was planning on going to tomorrow. There would be plenty to do then.

However, I had begun to grow a bit antsy when Amu was late on coming over to pick up Ami's present. She was two and a half hours late, to be exact. I would have called her, but there remained the fact that I didn't _have_ her number, and I didn't want to call Utau so I could ask for it and cause her worry, so in the end I just set out to see if she was still at the Easter building.

And yes, I'll just admit it – I _was_ a bit worried. Back when Amu was in the guardians, she was never the one to be late, and this situation was no different. Before leaving, I had Orrick stay home, just in case she came by while I was gone. Something was telling me to take the umbrella again, and did so I as Yoru and I left, we (or more precisely, _I_,) sprinted down to the bus stop, and took it to the Easter building. It really wasn't that hard to find, since anyone who visited the city-area of our town recognized it. It was known for being the tallest of all the buildings here, and as such was easy to find, even to the most oblivious of people.

Though, I hadn't seen it in awhile. It was a part of town I never really visited, but now that I was looking at it, it gave off an awfully evil aura I hadn't noticed it had before. All the more reason to find Amu and get her out of there.

But I was saved from having to go to the front desk and ask, as just as I was approaching the door, Amu's mom Midori and Ami stepped out. Midori, looking really lost and upset, and Ami having some sort of vice grin on her face. _That_ was really disturbing. How does a nine year old conjure up such an evil smile? And the look on Midori's face was giving me really bad vibes.

"Ikuto, you should ask them where Amu I, nyah…" Yoru said quietly. I nodded and approached them, tapping Midori on her shoulder. Her head turned sharply, eyes full of shock, but it quickly faded once she recognized me.

"Oh… you're that Ikuto boy, aren't you?" She murmured, her voice riddled with desolation.

Okay. _Something_ was up.

I decided to just cut to the chase. "Yeah, that's me… I was wondering where Amu went? She was supposed to drop by to pick up something she bought, and said she'd be at my parents shop two hours ago, but never came. I was a little worried, so I came to check…" I chose my word carefully, as saying _'at my house'_ instead of '_at my parents shop'_ would have probably implied a lot more to the woman. Her expression darkened at the mention of Amu's name, and she just shook her head. I looked down, and noticed Ami was smiling up at me… creepily.

"Midori, why don't we just tell him? It couldn't hurt, and I can see how it might help Kazuomi … in more ways than one." Wait; did she just call her own mother by her first name? And what did she mean by '_it couldn't hurt'_? Kazuomi? Who was that?

When Midori didn't reply, she just continued on. "Well, I have to return to the other side of Japan soon, so I'll say this as quickly and simply as possible." She spoke with superiority and intelligence beyond a normal nine-year-old. I felt my eyes widen a bit, and I was taken aback by her tone. This little nine-year-old, being so assertive? Even more so than she usually was… I had a bad feeling about this.

"Ami, Amu's real little sister, is dead. She had heart disease, and died during a transplant procedure, which was the reason why her father left for two years. To find her a heart, in America to be exact. But, Amu was never informed of Ami's death, and since Midori didn't have the heart to tell her she was dead, Easter took advantage of that fact and brought me into the picture. I look practically identical to Ami, and when a person hasn't seen someone for two years, it's easy to fool them. Don't I make a great stand-in?" She flashed a white smile at me and continued.

"Midori wasn't allowed to tell Amu this, or else Amu would be taken away from her. That's why Amu didn't know – until today, that is. But that's all I can say for now. Maybe you'll find out more later. Amu was informed of this two hours ago, but she's run off. Since I'm too busy to go find her, why don't you? My work here is done, and I have a plane to catch, so I can't be late!" She walked passed me and patted Midori's hand.

"See ya around, _Mama_." She cackled at that last word as she walked away, and I was left staring after her, baffled. It took me and long time to register everything she had just said, as it had been so fast, and I wasn't sure if I understood it all. But once I took in all of this, I turned the opposite direction and ran off, ignoring Midori's meek voice as she called after me. I did a character change with Yoru to speed up, looking for any sign of the pinkquette, who I knew, without a doubt, was shattered to pieces somewhere at that very moment.

And then it started raining.

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_**Alex's notes: **_Cliffy & a plot twist!? –le gasp- :F Did it seem rushed? Sorry if it did, but I liked the way it came out! :O  
And before you say anything, there _can _be look-alikes in this world! D Just look at that George Bush look-alike for example! I believe it was on the show 'The Most Extreme', but I'm not sure… and Tadase and Kukai will make a reappearance soon, their just not top priority right now, for those wondering.

Poor Amu-chan… now she's lost both her father and sister.  
But things run so much deeper than that.  
Despite a lot of questions being answered in recent chapters, there are still a lot of things yet to be uncovered.

Next chapter will be totally… _delectable_. I assure you!  
I'm not dropping hints this time though.  
Kay guys, cya next time._  
Thanks so much for reading! **Drop **me** a review, **that would make me so very __**happy**__!_


	8. GTR Part I, Comfort zones

**Alex's notes:**

Yeah, it's three months late. I'm not going to go into the deep details to as of why, since there are so many, so let's just say I'm basically taking a lot of tough classes this year that give a lot of homework. I basically have no more time to myself…

I separated chapter 8 into three different parts since it became around thirty pages long. I really hate the way these three parts came out, but I have no time to rewrite them so I might as well release them as-is.

One more thing – _**Thank you VERY much**_ everyone who reviewed, despite me not having updated in so long! I read all of em, and really appreciate it. ^w^ I apologize for not replying to all of them like I normally do.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Shugo Chara! Peach-pit does.  


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_The Miracle Swap  
Chapter 8: Gripping true reality. Part I  
Comfort zones_

It was raining.

_Hard._

Isn't it funny how the weather makes the atmosphere match our emotions and situations?

Dashing through rain, I searched for Amu, water droplets flinging from my dampened hair onto the solid concrete. Despite the fact that I was getting soaked, I didn't care, or rather, didn't notice. Worry had numbed my mind of such trivial thoughts.

Really though, how much did I know about Amu? I'd known her for almost half a year, so I dared to give her 'friend' status, when in fact I was now discovering there was so much more to her than just the spazzy petite girl who _seemed_ to simply adore her  
'sister'.

Speaking of which, how is it possible to not notice someone was impersonating your own sister…? That 'imposter' had mentioned that it was easy to believe if you haven't seen a person for two years, and maybe that was true, but how could you replicate a person's personality when they were… well, dead?

Either way, it was something I would have to think about later. Right now, top priority was finding Amu. They said she had left two hours prior to my arrival, so she could be anywhere… but then I had an idea.

"Yoru, can you sense Amu's Charas anywhere?"

He shook his head, "Not at all, nyah. Not even a faint reaction."

I groaned, and decided to try and think of all the places Amu could be. Home probably wasn't a big option for her; she and her mom were apparently not close, so why would she go home just to see the person who had apparently lied to her since Ami's death? It was possible, but I just didn't find it likely for her.

"But Ikuto! I sense two _different_ Charas, though I can tell they don't belong to Amu. Maybe we should just check…?"

I stopped in my tracks, but didn't waste time pondering about it. "We've got no other leads, so let's just see what's up." We had nothing else to go off of, so this couldn't hurt. I had never noticed anyone besides the guardians having Shugo Chara in my few months of receiving two myself, so this was strange. Perhaps it could lead us to Amu… but I didn't see how that could be possible, since Yoru specifically said they didn't feel like hers. I turned to follow him, and eventually, we came upon a familiar place – the abandoned train tracks. Though, it looked deserted. We were on the river side of the discarded carts, and since it was apparent that no one was near the river, we decided to check a few of the carts themselves – which seemed stupid to me - why would a Shugo Chara be in an abandoned cart…?

"It doesn't look like anyone's here… sure you felt something?" I asked Yoru, skeptical. He shook his head firmly in protest.

"I was sure I sensed two other Shugo Chara! They have to be around here somewhere."

"Do you _see_ anyone? 'Cause I don't, and if that's the case then no one must be here."

"I'm tellin' ya nya, there's something here!"

"Fine, fine, if you insist." Feeling impatient, I stopped searching the carts to pause and think of a different place to look, despite agreeing with Yoru to continue looking around here. Whatever it took to shut him up so that I could think. But in the midst of trying to figure out where I should go next, I heard a voice. It was a guy's voice, and sounded faintly familiar, but I wasn't quite sure whose it belonged too.

"… anyway, we really should get out of here. They'll be looking for you soon, and we can't let them get you, now can we? We'll have to find a place for you to hide for awhile…" It would appear he was speaking to someone, but when whoever it was didn't reply, he called out to them.

"Amu-chan…?"

_Amu!?_

The instant I heard him speak her name, I wasted no time using my character change with Yoru to leap swiftly over the top of the cart onto the other side, and sure enough, there she was – sitting next to the boy I remembered seeing on the day I found out about Amu being with Easter on a bench – who of which glared at me the moment he saw me, but it wasn't a glare of hatred, it was something else I didn't recognize. I took note of the two twin Shugo Chara floating beside him – one in a kimono, the other in casual clothing, both with purple hair. The two eyed me suspiciously.

"Ikuto Tsukiyomi…" '_How does this guy know my name…?_' I wondered as I examined Amu from afar. Her demeanor was completely different from that of when she was with me at the mall – now the happy cheery aura she gave off was consumed with blankness. She glanced up from her lap at the mention of my name, her expression blank, her normally bright golden eyes that were usually full of emotion and life, now dull. It was rather disturbing to look at.

"What are you doing here?" He questioned as I hopped down from the top of the cart, taking a few steps toward them.

"Looking for Amu," I answered simply, not taking my gaze off her. She had turned her attention back to her lap, but seemed to be gazing at nothing in particular. I could feel him staring at me for a moment, and then heard him sigh.

"I need you to do me a favor." When I ignored him, he added – "Or more rather, I need you to do a favor for Amu."

I looked at him, wondering what this 'favor' of his was. "I'm listening."

He got up from the bench and approached me, speaking with direct eye contact, but with an affable smile intact. "I'm going to be blunt here – I love Amu." I twitched inwardly at this – suddenly disgusted by the fact someone might like Amu. Not in a manor to say people _should not_ like her, but it was more in a way that anyone did _at all_… to put it in simpler terms, _without my consent_, then throwing the fact in my face. It bothered me. A lot, actually.

"But I've known her for so long, I can just tell she doesn't and probably won't ever feel the same way to me, so I'll accept treasuring our limitation of friendship. I only want the best for Amu, which is why I'll sacrifice whatever chances I might or may have had with her, and whatever I have, for her."

"… And where are you going with this?"

"Well, I'm sure Easter is going to search for her, and I just can't hide her at my house. That's probably one of the first places they'll search for her. She can't go home either, that would be too obvious."

"You know, you're really bad at this 'explaining thing.' Why does she even _need_ to hide from Easter?"

He just shrugged, still smiling. "Classified. But I _can_ tell you it's something bad. It's a good enough reason to hide her for a few days."

I sighed heavily. "If you're implying that I'm the one she has to stay with, then why can't you tell me anything? It's obvious that if you're helping her _escape_ from Easter, then you're against them. Shouldn't I be let in on the situation too?"

"Well, that's true, but at the same time I'm pretty high up in ranks. If any information was to get out, they'd look to me first, because I'm normally one of the first few who gets the classified info. And what their planning on doing with Amu is a secret, so I really can't say much. Besides, if all goes well, nothing bad will happen and no one will ever need to know anyway."

"Mmm… but why would you trust me, a stranger, with someone so important to you?"

His smile faltered a bit, "Who said I trusted you? I don't. Barely at all, actually. The only reason I'm putting even a little faith in you is because one, there's no one else I could possibly turn too for something like this, and two, because Amu seems to trust you enough for such a task. That's enough for me…"

I glanced over to Amu again. She was still in the same position as before, having not said a word, and seemed oblivious to our conversation.

"How do you know?"

He scoffed slightly, "Prior to today, all she spoke of was you and Utau. I assume she must really like you if she allowed herself to befriend someone like _you_."

I held back a retort. Someone like _me_? Where did he get off!?

"Anyway, enough of this chit-chat. Kazuomi made the order for Amu's charas to be held captive for the time being, and I've taken it upon myself to rescue them. They won't search for Amu until tonight, probably, since I made sure they'd experience a few… _dilemmas_ in their laboratory. They should be having quite a delay right about now. So right now is a good time to take her to her home, grab what she needs, and head to your house."

Oddly, I found myself nodding obediently. Wait, did I just agree to take Amu to _my_ house…? I sure was getting myself into a lot of trouble this year, obeying a guy whose name I didn't even know without a second thought. This felt more like I was taking in a lost kitten or something…

There was a sudden beeping noise, and he reached down into his pocket, pulling out a cell phone. He smirked after glancing at the message and wrapped up the conversation, "Well then, I'm off to stall, and to save Ran Miki and Suu. Waste no time and…" his normally passive expression turned to a scowl, "Should anything happen to Amu, I _will_ make sure to hold _you_ accountable." Putting on a passive expression to that last comment, I said nothing as I watched him walk away, unfazed by his threat, his two guardian characters following him silently. I immediately pushed thoughts of him out of my mind and focused on the task at hand.

Amu still sat there, looking lost and almost emotionless, like everything she'd ever felt had been zapped out of her. To be honest, I expected the news of Ami's death to cause her to break down or something, but instead she seemed to revert into some sort of shell…

Then for the first time, I noticed it was raining. I was completely drenched, so it seemed pointless to use an umbrella, but I went ahead and opened it anyway since Amu was still dry.

"Ikuto, we'd better hurry and get going before both of you catch a cold…" Yoru mumbled beside me, reminding me of his presence. I nodded and extended my hand towards her; in turn she stirred slightly and looked up at me, her golden eyes still dull.

"Come on Amu, we can't waste time. You can mope around all you want when we get to my place." Wow, that didn't come out sounding as comforting as I intended it too… and yet she still took my hand, coming without question nor complaint, or a word for that matter. I lead her back the way I had came for the most part, making sure to take the roads less traveled, since I didn't want to risk anyone finding us. Although the guy from before said he had caused them some sort of 'great delay', I didn't want to take any chances. If there was anyone at her house once we arrived, Amu could always wear Utau's clothes… maybe.

Yet I found it absolutely bizarre that no one was at Amu's house when we arrived to get her things. I mean like, not even her own mother was home, from the looks of things outside. Perhaps my hunch was right, and that no one expected her to come here. But either way, it wasn't an excuse not to be cautious. I asked for the keys and Amu handed them to me, without even a nod of confirmation after my request. After telling her to go up to her room and get her things, I kind of felt like I was ordering her around in some way, but she was so ill responsive that I had no choice but to tell her what to do with every step of the way. At this time, I looked around here and there in the house, looking for any sign of Amu's mother. When I finally came to the conclusion she wasn't there, I stepped into the kitchen and took a seat at the table as I waited for Amu. It was here that I discovered a note.

_Amu, I know you won't believe me, but I still think it's worth telling you that I never intended to hide the truth about Ami from you. Easter forced me to hide it so that they could keep us in our contract for an extended amount of time, and warned me that if I told you about her death that they would take you away from me. I was selfish, but couldn't stand having both my daughters taken from me, so I agreed to have someone replace Ami for the past two years. I know you're upset with me, so I'm going to leave for a little while and give you the space you need to think things through. I'll be back soon with something that can hopefully help, I promise._

_~Love mom._

I crumpled the paper and stuffed it in my pocket – debating on weather I should show it to Amu later or not. Despite everything about this situation having nothing to do with me until less than twenty minutes ago, it was obvious that Amu was too unstable right now to take in any new information, and reading the letter would only remind her of Ami's death even more so than she already was. Right now, I was responsible for her, as odd as that sounded. So, I would have to wait until later.

"Ikutooo…" Yoru whimpered beside me. I turned my passive gaze towards him, giving him my attention. "Is Amu gonna be okay…? Because if she's not, then Orrick will…"

Orrick. That was right, I'd forgotten about him for a bit. He was probably going to have some sort of conniption fit once he saw the state Amu was in.

"I don't know, Yoru." I answered honestly. He slouched a bit and sat on the table, looking discouraged. But, again, I'm not really good at the whole 'comforting' thing, or at least I don't think so.

Once Amu was ready and we began our rainy trot toward my place, I let my mind wander a bit since Amu wasn't exactly being the most talkative of folks at the time, and I wasn't quite sure what to say as of yet myself. One thing was continuously bothering me, and no matter how many times I tried to shake the thought and think of something else, it kept coming back. That guy with the purple hair had said he _loved_ Amu… and that was bugging me. No, Amu wasn't 'property', or an item, or something to be bought, she was nothing of the sort. But for some reason I felt as though he shouldn't. It couldn't have been a distrusting atmosphere about him; he seemed quite trustworthy, and generally seemed to know Amu a lot better than I did. Still, it felt unacceptable. Like an endangerment not to Amu, but to _me_. It felt as though despite the fact that I was, as one would describe it as, in current 'procession' of Amu, I was going to lose her to him somehow. Even though he himself had said she _"probably won't ever feel the same way to me"_… it was driving me crazy.

I stopped briskly at that thought and stared blankly ahead as we continued our hurried walk in the cold, breathed in, and sighed deeply, almost depressingly, in realization. Something was hitting me hard, and I was feeling zero relief from it. If all of this worry was caused simply by the fact that that guy had said those two simple statements, then it could only lead to the conclusion that I was either: jealous of him, had a feeling of protection towards Amu that I hadn't noticed before, or a combination of the two. And no, I'm not one of those slow types who would probably go on to ask themselves: '_but why'_ after coming up with the previous three conclusions. It was more than apparent to me that I was getting some sort of attraction towards the girl, which was something I was unthankful for, despite it being unavoidable. It was as that old saying went – 'you like who you like', and if I may add to that – 'weather you like it or not.'

One might ask why I didn't _wish_ to like Amu. Although Amu has certain qualities about her that'd I'd rather stay out of, such as her screwed up life, mental instability and whatnot, it would be the same for any girl. (Which is strange, since even though I don't really _want_ to be involved with her, I'm still experiencing the compelling feeling to do so by some 'unknown force', which now has the name attraction.) As I said so long ago, I had never really been the type to behave well around anyone I was interested in – and yes, I'm aware I said that I was out of my old perverted habits due to being isolated from the rest of the student body and coaching from Orrick, there still lingered the feeling that I should be cautious. Let me give an example. If you've ever fallen backwards in a chair and hit the floor before anyone could catch you, then you already know that the next time you sit in a chair again, you'll feel as though you might fall backwards even if you might be in a steady chair that has no possibility of falling. That is because you feel as though if it happened once, it can happen again, and so your body gets cautious. The same principle applied to me, just with a different situation. Get what I'm saying?

Anyway, it was because of this cautious feeling that I suddenly didn't feel exactly 'secure' as I walked beside her, doubt suddenly creeping in. _But yeah, sure, there's a lot not to like about Amu_, I tried to convince myself. Like, she was hardheaded, occasionally moody, and jumped to conclusions, (though I had never really been bothered by this) and judging by her current appearance, would possibly never achieve a sexy status, (… which also didn't bug me) and had a weird mental condition that she wasn't looking to cure any time soon, (yet despite knowing this, I had nearly jumped at the chance to help her with that anyway) and…

And, contradictory thoughts just _suck_. Especially when you're losing to the positive side.

Okay, so Amu was far from perfect, but for some reason I was seeing her in a different light now. I suddenly found all the solutions to her weak points effortlessly, which just proved to myself even further that it wouldn't matter if she had ten million faults and only five good points, I didn't care, for whatever reason. Yes, I _thought_ about them a lot, but 'not caring' in this case means to not be bothered by it. And if I had unintentionally convinced myself that there was nothing for me to truly dislike about Amu, then this probably meant I wasn't going to be able to get over of this attraction towards her… but for now, what I felt wasn't important. So I shoved the realization to the back of my mind as I noticed we had arrived home.

"Ikuto, we're home! Unlock the door already, geez!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." I muttered as I pulled out the key, jabbing it in the lock and stepping inside. I watched Amu as she slowly stepped through the door, took off her shoes and set them near the wall, then pensively gazed at the teddy bear I'd set next to the door for her to pick up earlier.

_Shit._

"Come on Amu, we have to figure out what we're going to tell Utau and the others," I said hurriedly, snapping her out of her trance as I practically dragged her by the wrist towards the back door. _Note to self: burn that bear while Amu's not looking._

Once we'd entered the living room, I had Amu take a seat on the couch, where she sighed once (whoa, a sign of life!) before gazing around at nothing in particular. She sure was taking Ami's death… strangely. I mean, don't most people, you know, _cry_ when a close and cherished family member dies? But no, Amu had to be the different one and go into an unresponsive state, which I found irritating.

I hadn't noticed Orrick float down the stairs to the living room, so he startled me slightly when he spoke.

"What happened too my Amu-chan!?" He suddenly shouted, panicked, and killing the silent and serious that had come over Yoru, Amu and I ever since we'd picked her up. He was losing his usual calm composure.

"It's a disgustingly long story, nyah…" Yoru answered for me as I took a seat next to Amu, not bothering to answer Orrick's question myself. I wasn't quite sure what I should say to her – in case no one had noticed, I had never been the type who was good at comforting people in their time of need. Though Amu staying quiet the whole time was probably worse than her crying, for a multitude of reasons. It could mean she was in denial, or still trying to come to terms with Ami's death, or it could mean she was being stubborn and was locking away her emotions, which everyone knows is only a temporary fix that only causes frustration build-up. I would much rather prefer her to show _some_ signs of emotions, which would be much better than keeping to herself.

I was going to attempt to mutter something that had nothing to do with the current situation, but wouldn't you know it, the phone decided to ring once I'd thought something up. I answered it resentfully, answering with a sharp and annoyed tone.

"_What. Is it_?"

There was a little gasp on the other line and then a high-pitched voice replied, "I-I-Ikuto? Is that you?"

"Who else could it possibly be!?"

"HEY, you don't have to be so smart-alecky! Go take a nap if you're going to answer the phone so grumpily!!"

"Yaya, what do you want? I'm kind of busy right now. And how did you get my phone number!?"

"None of that matters right now! Amu-chi's missing, we've been calling her for the past like four hours and she hasn't pick up yet! _You_ weren't answering the phone either, so we got worried. Did she ever drop by to pick up the bear thing?"

"Hmmm…" I debated on weather or not to tell her Amu was here with me. Amu wasn't in the most talkative of moods at the moment, so telling her she was here probably wasn't the best of ideas since she'd probably insist on speaking to her…

"Huh?"

"Let me speak to Utau."

"W-what!? You didn't even answer my question!"

"Utau. Now."

"B-but-"

"Woman!"

"_FINE_ Mister... Bossy… bounty boy!" Was that supposed to be an insult?

There were a few shuffling noises and a lot of yelling coming from Yaya, saying something about Utau having a 'disrespectful rascal of a brother' or something… not that I cared. I then heard Utau screech from the other line.

"Ikuto, what is your _problem_!? Yaya's going on a ranting rampage right now, and you know that once she starts she won't stop!"

"Utau," I immediately sensed her calming on the other line in reaction to my tone, "Something came up. It's serious."

"W… what is it, Ikuto?"

"Something with Amu."

"What about her?" She asked, sounding hesitant.

"Well…" I went ahead and almost explained everything to her, starting with the events of this afternoon. I didn't bother telling her what I'd learned earlier at that party, because Amu herself didn't even know I knew, not that I was even sure she was listening to our conversation. All the while, Orrick listened to my explanation, awe-struck by the events. Once I'd finished, Utau stayed silent on the other line for a moment.

"I'm coming home. Right now."

I practically chocked on my own spit, "Wait – what? What about Yaya and Rima? What will you tell them?"

"The truth, of course! They don't need to know about all the gritty details, but they deserve to know about Ami. Amu's their close friend too, you know, and they'd probably just follow me home anyway if I didn't explain why I was leaving. They'd want to be there for Amu just as much as you or I do!" _I'd_ never said I wanted that… whatever.

"Fine, just don't mention her look-alike."

"I'm not stupid! You don't need to tell me that!"

"Couldn't tell…"

"Ikuto! Now's not the time!"

"Okay, sheesh, sorry."

"Whatever," There was a click on the other end of the line, and I groaned. Typical Utau sass.

Silent, I spared another glance at Amu, who was now staring at me with what looked like extremely dull curiosity. I smirked slightly, but didn't get my usual _'stop smirking!'_ response, instead she looked away, which felt really cold coming from her. I was beginning to feel as though the person I'd brought home with me was some stranger, and as such, a feeling of discomfort fell over me. I found myself technically alone with her in the living room now, as Yoru had dragged Orrick up stairs while I was on the phone, and I didn't count my cat Lieu, who could be anywhere. Hopefully Yoru would explain the situation to Orrick so that I wouldn't have too…

"You know, staying silent the whole time isn't exactly reassuring." I mumbled, unable to think of anything else to say. Amu looked back at me with slight annoyance brightening up her once dull eyes – but only slightly.

"_You're_ the one who wasn't talking." Her tone gave the warning of edge; she definitely wasn't in the mood for anything but a serious atmosphere at the moment. Still, I couldn't help myself when I snapped back at her. There was no way she could put all of this on me!

"Who said you needed my permission before you could speak?" I demanded, glaring at her with an unfaltering gaze. She flinched, but only barely, her irritated facial expression falling to a discouraged one.

"…Sorry." She murmured miserably, fixating her attention to the carpet. I sighed, mentally slapping myself. Just because I was annoyed with the current Amu didn't mean biting her head would turn her back into her normal self. _Monitor the temper, show a little sympathy…_

"No, forget it. It's fine," _Idiot, you're supposed to apologize too! _"Why don't you go get cleaned up?"

She nodded numbly and stood up, grabbing the bag she had set down near the couch and following me as I lead her to the bathroom upstairs. Sure, I was being stoic right now, but to be honest I was still struggling to think of what to say. I knew I _should_ say something about the whole Ami thing but I had no idea _what_ to say… which was very strange. I mean, yeah, throw in the fact that I'd never faced a situation like this before, but normally I was quick on knowing what to say and when to say it. With Amu, it was a lot harder to know what to think, because now she was unpredictable.

"… and here are you towels," I set them on the counter and Amu nodded once. "Utau said she's coming over with Rima and Yaya so… brace yourself."

"Mn." She muttered, shooing me out of the bathroom without any enthusiasm and closing the door behind lightly, lacking any form of slammage at all. I heard the lock click, and stared blankly at the closed door for a minute. Seriously, I never get nervous, but the way she was acting was just so weird! I would have totally expected her to say something like 'fine, just hurry up and get out!' but instead all I got was a 'Mn'… it was so _unnatural_. So yes, you could say, Ikuto Tsukiyomi has completely exited his comfort zone.

* * *

**Alex's notes:**

Kay yeah, so there's part one.  
Part two's already done... so yeah. ._.


	9. GTR Part II, Beginning comprehension

**Disclaimer: I do not own Shugo Chara! Peach-pit does.**

_The Miracle Swap  
Chapter 9: Gripping true reality. Part II  
Beginning comprehension_

"Ikuto-san…" Orrick and Yoru made their presence known again, floating in front of me gaze and causing me to snap out of my short trance. But instead of wearing worried masks as I expected them too, they looked at me suspiciously.

"Ikuto, you're acting weird!" Yoru said, pointing an accusing paw at me. I shrugged, heading for the stairs.

"You're imagining things."

"He's right, Ikuto-san. You're out of your usual state of peace, mind and balance today." Orrick chimed in, which was odd since Yoru and Orrick rarely agreed on things.

"How so," I challenged, ready to shoot down any pieces of evidence they had against me, as I was normally quite good at making a comeback when it came to debating with these two.

"Simple. You seem to have lost your ability to speak to Amu completely!"

"That's just plain weird! You should be comforting her!"

"Mmm…" I actually had to ponder up a response this time, as I hadn't expected them to notice this, since they had been upstairs... right?

"See? Look, we were right nyah!" He turned to Orrick and elbowed him lightly, smirking with pride after I had remained silent for more than twenty seconds, "He's speechless!"

"Well, I can't blame him…" Came Orrick's reply, "Amu's rather difficult to converse with right now. She's like a cloud of depression, slowly making its way around the house and leaving a trail of sad atmospheric particles in her wake…"

"But that's kind of, you know, expected since Ami's dead. She was like, her will to live, nya! Now she's kind of like…" Yoru paused, struggling to find a correct play of words.

"An empty shell," I offered.

"Yeah!" Yoru suddenly became quite energized at my suggestion, "We gotta cheer her up somehow!"

"Well Yoru, cheering someone up from death isn't exactly easy." I replied, taking a seat down at the kitchen table. Yoru stood on table next to Orrick, who sat calmly as he listened to his Chara counterpart.

"He's right you know, they say only time can heal those kinds of wounds."

"Yeah well, time takes too long to pass by! I say we speed it up!"

I looked at him, stupefied. Speed up time? "How to you suggest we do that?" I asked, putting as much sarcasm as I could into the question to emphasize the stupidity of the suggestion. But Yoru wasn't fazed by this.

"It's easy! We make her laugh!" He beamed, visibly very proud of his proposal. Orrick smacked his forehead in disgust while my expression hadn't changed from the previous stupefied one.

"Yoru, that's like trying to permanently cure a person diagnosed with depression using sex. It's only temporary."

Orrick gasped and turned his full-on attention to me, shocked as he covered his mouth. "Ikuto! How do you know that!?!?"

"Oh for the love of – give me a break! I read it in a book!"

He eyed my skeptically. "… What _book_ are you talking -"

"My _psychology_ text book from school! I shouldn't have to defend myself over something like this – I was supposed to study depression for a report!"

"Well why did you have to use that sort of example!? It's just so-so-so… ungentlemanly! What if my Amu was here in this kitchen right now!? Her poor _pure_ ears…"

"It was the first thing that came to mind…" I muttered, annoyed with the questions.

"And _why_ was it the first one that came to mind!? HMMM?"

"ANYWAY! BACK TO THE SUBJECT," Yoru shouted, not amused by our stray of topic. Which was good, because my only answer to Orrick's question would have been the fact that the subject had been floating around in my head a few times, it had been an interesting subject to study… the depression itself! Not anything else!

Orrick had no trouble continuing with the original subject, "I want Amu to be happy no matter what, too! I love Amu as though she were a delicate flour, and would shower her with water every day if that was what made her happy…" I raised an eyebrow. Why did Orrick have such a huge liking for her? Ever since he'd met her personally, he had just admired her constantly since, and to be honest it was a bit annoying. He looked at me with a hopeful expression.

"Ikuto-san, you love Amu too, don't you? You want to help her too, right!?" Well, there was a question I wasn't quite expecting. I blinked once, but remained silent, which caused Yoru to look up at me suspiciously.

"Ikuto?"

"What."

"You _do_ know you love Amu, right?"

If I had been drinking water right at that moment, I would have spit it out in shock of the statement.

"That has to be the most absurd thing I've heard you say all night!" Yes, I was aware of the fact that I liked Amu, but that wasn't on my top-priority list right now so I hadn't put much thought into coming to terms on how deep this feeling was since before I stepped through the front door. I hadn't really even associated it with 'love', since that was, from what I'd heard, supposed to be a very deep feeling that in most cases doesn't hit you straight in the face if you're levelheaded. I considered myself levelheaded, so I hadn't considered that an option.

"But it's true!"

"How the hell do _you_ know!?"

"Because Orrick has liked Amu ever since he met her, and the only time that can happen is when the owner of the Chara is in love too, nya!"

I frowned without any hesitation, having not heard of this when Tadase explain everything about Shugo Chara's to me… "That sounds like a load of crap."

"But it's true!"

"If it's true, then why aren't you so fixated on her?" I asked skeptically.

"Let me explain," Orrick spoke up, "It's actually quite a rare condition that doesn't occur often, and the chara chose for such conditions is random. It doesn't matter how 'strong' the love is either, it can occur whenever, no matter the circumstances, and fades as the true owners love for the other person fades... Though, I kind of view Amu more like a daughter or my master's mistress. Something of that sort…"

"Orrick, that's weird." I informed him.

"Oh, be quiet! Anyway, we thought you knew, so we hadn't said anything. Surprise?" He smiled cheerily.

"Haw haw." I laughed sardonically. "Yeah, expect me to know something like that when no one informs me…"

"Well," Yoru began, "Back to the task at hand. We need to do something for Amu, and while you two were talking, I think I thought up the perfect thing to do!"

"And your idea is…?"

He cleared his throat and paused for effect, then announced his idea with a huge smile. "Why don't you bake Amu something!?"

Again, if I had been drinking something at the time…

"That's even more stupid than your earlier suggestion!" I shouted, completely disgusted with the idea.

"But no, just listen Ikuto!"

"No way."

"Please!"

"Forget it!"

"Do it for Amu!"

"…" Yoru grinned, knowing he had me. He continued with this explanation.

"Okay, remember that day when Amu went to the bakery and you took her with you too the store?"

I nodded as I listened, the stopped him before he could get started. "How do you know that!? You weren't even there!"

"Oh…" he blushed and scratched the back of his head nervously, "Well Orrick and I saw you two walking and holding hands so we decided we'd follow you… and then on your way back home we decided to play dumb when we returned later!"

"Wow, you guys…"

"Anyway, Amu had mentioned that she was disappointed in you because you kept running away from your baking problem. You weren't looking at her face at the time she said it, but she really did look disappointed. So, I thought that if maybe you showed her how much you've improved, that might make her happy!"

I stared at him, dumbfounded, but at the same time I thought it was kind of cute. Shugo Chara really were quite simple-minded, but in a good way. I baking something for Amu wasn't going to lift her up from her sadness of her sister's death, but Yoru was still trying to dig for a way to make her happy again.

"Yoru, _what_ improvements? I haven't improved a single bit this year."

"Weeell.." he kicked at nothing in particular, "What if we get Utau to help you when she gets here?"

"No way, that would be too suspicious! Plus, she won't even let me _look _at the oven, let alone use it!"

His cat ears drooped a bit discouragingly. "But… shouldn't we be willing to give anything to make her happy again? If we can't make her smile, she at least deserves our efforts…"

I looked at my little guardian sympathetically. I was never the enthusiastic one for ideas that didn't sound realistic, but Yoru was an enthusiast, and my negativity normally brought him down to a somewhat unhappy level. He was really trying hard to think up a good idea, and there I went again shooting him down. So this time, I decided to give one of his ideas a try for once. What did we have to lose? (Well, perhaps a lot, but still…)

"… Fine. But if the house burns down, it's not my fault."

Yoru's light brown orbs lit up, "Really Ikuto!? This is great! This is so great, nya!"

… Yet the situation still felt a bit hopeless. "I still don't get how you expect me to be able to do this though. There's a _reason_ I don't attempt to bake, you know."

"If only Suu was here, I bet she could help us…" Orrick mumbled miserably, reminding me of Amu's chara's absences. It wasn't all too weird for me to not have them around, seeing as normally when Amu was over here she didn't bring them with her, but they were close friends with Yoru and Orrick. Hopefully, that guy I met would be able to rescue them, since Easter had apparently taken them away from Amu, which probably wasn't helping her state of despair. Which reminded me…

"Speaking of Suu, that reminds me – isn't Amu taking kind of long in the shower?"

Yoru shrugged, "Don't girls normally take their time in showers?"

"OR!" Orrick suddenly proclaimed, "What if she fell in the shower, hit her head, and is in a coma right now!?"

Yoru and I stared at him with a look that just _screamed_ 'shut up'. He was supposed to be my more 'gentlemanly' self, but all I see in him lately is a worrying nag. His proclamation was so stupid, that Yoru and I simply ignored what he said. But as Yoru opened his mouth to speak again, I heard the front door unlock, and then the sounds of three familiar girls stomping their way towards the kitchen…. There goes our peace.

"IKUTO!" Yaya yelled as she rounded the corner and stepped into the kitchen, slamming her hands on the table for a dramatic effect. "WHERE IS AMU-CHI!?"

"Upstairs. Taking a shower. Been in there for awhile…"

"Nooo!" Yaya turned around and leaned her hand against a wall, gripping her heart dramatically, "What if she fell in the shower, hit her head, and is in a coma right now!?"

Orrick looked up at me with a _'see? I told ya so!'_ expression, which I ignored, since it then became apparent that they were both on the same level of stupidity.

"Yaya, this is serious! Stop goofing around!" Utau barked.

"But I hate serious situations – if we let the atmosphere become all gloomy then it won't be any help to Amu at all!"

"But this isn't the time to joke around!"

"I'm not goofing around, I'm just being positive!"

As I watched the two girls quarrel with amusement, I took note of Rima heading up the stairs without saying a word to either them, and I silently applauded her for avoiding the argument.

"Utau, shouldn't you be doing something right now?" I hinted. My sister didn't need much time to catch on, and grabbed Yaya's arm as she headed after Rima up the stairs without another word. Finally, quiet.

"Geez their so noisy nya! But anyway, it's time we get started! I've already chosen the cake, and it will be a two-layered vanilla custard cake with fruit toppings and-"

"No! You're asking for too much, make it simple!" I protested, causing the little blue fairy to frown and cross his arms. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you only want to make this cake to stuff it in your big mouth!"

"Well, there's no questioning the fact that I'll want to eat it too but, fine! Plain strawberry then?"

I shrugged at the idea, "I don't really like strawberry flavored anything, just regular strawberries. I think we should have something in the chocolate category…"

Orrick smirked, "You never can resist the chance to eat chocolate now can you, Ikuto-san?"

"No, no, Amu strikes me as a chocolate lover too, dontcha think?" Yoru agreed.

"Then it's settled. Chocolate it is." Though I said this with composure, I was quite excited about it. I won't deny my love for chocolate flavored anything, but at the same time I had a strong feeling that I would probably just ruin anything I attempted. This felt absolutely hopeless.

"Just don't get your hopes up," I continued, "I've never been able to successfully bake even the smallest cookie morsel without burning it to a crisp. Ever."

"Oh god, no…" My attention perked up at the sound of a familiar voice, one of which I hadn't heard all day. Looking behind me from my chair, I saw Iru and Eru staring at me in utter horror, Iru's mouth agape and Eru looking as though she was about to faint.

"D-d-did I just hear you say… that you're _baking_ something chocolate flavored?" Iru asked. The three of us nodded once and Eru seemed to suddenly lose control of her sanity.

"W-w-wha tdjet, fwa!?" She sputtered.

"He's going to bake! We've reached a state of emergency!!" Iru shouted.

"IRU!! GO INFORM UTAU IMMIDIATLY WHILE I GET THE SITUATION UNDER CONTROL!!"

"Roger that!" And with that, Iru flew off upstairs to find Utau while Eru approached with caution. Geez, there two were so ridiculous…

"IKUTO!" and loud… "We've discussed this! No using the kitchen for anything accept the sink, refrigerator and microwave with parental guidance!"

I stared at the little angelic fairy with an incredulous expression. "When did we discuss anything about baking…?"

She cleared her throat, "Well, _we_ didn't exactly discuss anything… but I was there that one time when Utau told you not too, so there!"

"I-is Ikuto really that bad, nya…?" Yoru asked, sounding as though he might reconsider his plan.

"Yes! He tries to bake by thinking too much and as a result doesn't pay attention to what he's doing _because_ he's thinking too much, which is why things always burn!"

"Has anyone ever even tried to fix the problem? Ikuto can do anything he puts his mind too!" Orrick protested.

"Not with those… house-endangering skills he won't!"

While those two quarreled with each other, I took the liberty of going ahead and starting without them by looking for the cabinet that contained the flour. It was rather high up, so I had to use both hands as I tried to get the giant bag down from its confinement…

"IKUTO!"

Startled, I shifted my weight a bit to try to prevent dropping the bag of flour I'd pulled down, which was much larger than your average flour sack, and much heavier to boot. One false move could cause one to be covered with its contents in the next moment.

As I was thinking this, I suddenly felt myself being tackled by none other than my sister, which caused me to drop the giant bag of flour as we both fell to the floor. Needless to say, we were both covered with white by the time it was all over.

"Utau! Was that really necessary?!" I yelled amid a few huffs here and there, the dust of the flour flowing through the kitchen.

"Yes! It was absolutely necessary! The day I let you use the kitchen will be the day after I die!" She rubbed her face to try and get the flour out of her eyes but failed, since her hands were also covered with it. "… I'm so not cleaning this up."

"What!"

"You heard me."

"But you were the one who tackled me and caused me to drop the bag of flour in the first place! This is your fault!"

"No, if you hadn't tried to bake then we wouldn't even _be_ in this situation!"

"You're just too drastic."

"And you can't cook, so I guess we're even."

"… Ahem… uh, guys?" We both looked up from the floor we had fallen on to see Rima, Yaya, and a dampened-haired Amu staring at us with bewilderment. Silence filled the room for a moment and I noted Utau's huge blush of embarrassment, and I say large because I noticed it _through_ the flour on her cheeks. No one really seemed to have an idea of what to say or do, so I decided to just wait until someone else said something first. But instead of the situation being greeted by words, it was greeted by laughter. Amus laughter, to be exact.

"Y-You two look so ridiculous!" She managed to say between giggles, and eventually Rima and Yaya joined in, pointing and laughing. Greeeat, now I was a laughing stock…

"But seriously speaking, this place is a mess now. Who plans on cleaning it up?" Rima asked once the laughter had died down. Utau crossed her arms and huffed.

"Not me. I have to take a shower and wash my hair now that it's coated with white."

"That wouldn't have happened if you hadn't tackled me! I say it's your job to clean up," Yoru and Orrick nodded in agreement.

"I think so too Utau, that _was_ that extreme…" Yaya said before Utau could open her mouth, who in response crossed her arms and looked the other way as she huffed. I turned my attention to Amu again, who had calmed down quite a bit from the earlier performance put on unintentionally. Her face expressed passiveness, but the golden glow of her eyes had returned, just not as bright as they usually were. I couldn't help but wonder what the three girls had said to her to raise her spirits slightly. She seemed simply tired now, yawning once before taking another glance at Utau and I, at which she made a "Kmph" noise as though she was trying to hold in laughter before looking away. I seriously didn't want to look in the mirror now…

"It's such a big mess; we might as well help them clean it up…" Rima suggested, although not sounding too excited about her own idea. Utau had no problem with the proposal, but Yaya needed a little coaxing before she agreed to help. As for me, I was the first who got to use the shower out of the two of us since it was Utau who had caused the mess. As I headed up the stairs, I took note of Amu who seemed to have fallen asleep on the couch, and went into my room to pick out what to put on. As I opened the door, a very irritated Lieu exited the room with a hiss, and I scolded myself for not checking to see if he was locked in there. Though, it seemed weird he'd be annoyed with it, since he usually spent his whole day in my room on his scratching post as it was…

But I soon came to realize that the reason he had been to eager to leave my room was not because he had been cooped up in there.

No, it was because the egg I had dubbed a 'dud', which I had left on my desk in a cushioned box since I got it back, had a slight glow to it now. I flipped on the light and approached the 'dud', and immediately noticed the 'x' had vanished from it. Instead, now I could clearly see its design, which was a simple light shade of green with a red line going through it horizontally, and a wired whisk. I picked it up, examined it for a few seconds, and then set it back in its box. Sure, it was nice that it hadn't turned out to be a dud after all, but I still felt as though I didn't particularly care for what it represented. I wasn't quite sure _how_ it would hatch either, since I was pretty sure baking anything was now out of the option after what happened with Utau. Pushing the subject aside, I decided to just let time do whatever it wanted to do with a situation like this and left to the washroom.

~Nya.~

"Surely we can't let it all go to waste, can we?" Rima said as we all sat around the kitchen table, enjoying tea (milk for me) after we'd all finished cleaning up the kitchen. After I got out of the shower, the girls seemed to only be making the mess worse in their attempt to clean it, so I decided to pitch in while Utau went off to take a bath for herself. Needless to say, we got things done a lot faster while I was in charge of cleaning, since I was an expert at things like that. What can I say; being in charge of all that cleaning business in home ec wasn't such a bad thing after all.

Once we'd finished the kitchen and Utau returned, then Rima and Yaya had to decide on what they planned on doing about all the food they had bought for the party. Having a slumber party for them seemed out of the question now, since it was getting rather late and Yaya was positive her parents weren't going to be exactly thrilled to hear that they switched the location for the party to our place, and apparently wouldn't want to transport all that food over. Seriously though, it was only four girls, why did they feel the need to buy all that food anyway!? Oh, and speaking of the _fourth_ girl, yes. Amu was still sleeping on the couch at this time.

"Waa, all those sweet cookies I bought…" Yaya whimpered.

"Well, we _could _just have the party without Amu, but that would be incredibly cruel… plus, we'd be leaving her here with _him._" Rima gestured to me in a disgusted manner, but I remained unaffected by her insult and merely sipped my milk innocently. Unfortunately, that didn't seem to work to well with Rima and Yaya, since they turned their heads and eyed my suspiciously. I could see I had to defend myself for the second time today…

"Not even the sickest pervert on the planet would be interested in Amu," I said simply, as it was my way of saying I wasn't attracted to the idea of being some sort of sexual offender around her whilst being home alone. Although, now that I knew how I felt for her, (but hid the fact very well, if I may point out) I wasn't very sure if my old habits might awaken… though nothing really was, or had ever, stirred to suggest such a thing had a possibility of happening any time soon, so I was at ease. But Yaya didn't seem convinced.

"I dunno, retired prince. Old habits die hard…" Yaya said smugly, shrugging.

"Old habits die hard, but do eventually die." I countered calmly, not really looking at her but not purposefully looking away either.

"Well, Utau knows you better than either of us, so I think we should just let her decide." Rima muttered, her suspicion from before seeming to have died after I stated my lack of interest in the idea of seducing Amu in some way.

"Well, Utau?" Yaya asked my sister, who seemed to have disconnected with the conversation after previously speaking.

"Oh, um. Yeah, whatever. Ikuto hasn't shown any signs of being a freak in the past few months, so I would say he's been tamed." I frowned at the idea of being referred to as something that was tamable… "… But the decision isn't ours to make, its Amu's."

There was a small silence at the table for a moment as everyone contemplated this. Since Amu was clearly too upset to be joking around at a slumber party, then she'd have to stay here, but the idea of her having a female companion around was tempting. It would relieve me of the stress of dealing with her. I suddenly felt guilty after thinking that, so I decided to just accept it if that was what would happen.

"It doesn't matter to me if you guys continue having the party as planned," all heads turned to the kitchen door, where Amu was leaning against its frame, arms crossed, looking at us with a forced smile. But none of them seemed to catch onto this. "You guys already put money in it anyway; it would be a waste not to go… have fun."

"Re-really?" Yaya asked, dumbfounded by her statement. Amu nodded briskly.

"I don't want to feel as though I held you back." She said, her fake smile falling into a stoic look. But it seemed obvious to me that she was bothered by this decision. How come no one else was noticing this…?

"Well, if you insist." Utau said, getting up and beckoning for the others to stand as well. "Ikuto will clean the dishes."

_What?_ Though I didn't like that the chore was being dumped on me, it wasn't a big deal, so I just nodded without argue.

"Rima, Yaya, meet me outside. I'll be with you in a second." The two girls nodded and headed out without a moments hesitation, seeming eager to get out of the house's depressing atmosphere. I couldn't blame them.

Utau grabbed Amu's arm suddenly and started her way to the living room, shouting behind her: "Ikuto! Clean!"

"Yes _master_," I hissed, gathering up the cups around the table and taking them to the sink. After a few moments, I could hear a few muffled voices coming from the room, with consistent pauses in between responses. Instantly, I became curious. I did a character change with Yoru without his consent, since I had discovered how too without his permission, and shamelessly abused my cat-like hearing to tune into Utau and Amu's conversation as I continued with the dishes. Who had to know besides Yoru?

"Look, you need to stop being so irresponsive." Utau was saying, sounding annoyed. "I know losing a sibling hurts, but you can't just lock away your emotions like this. You'll only feel worse later." a pause. Amu didn't reply. "… If you, you know… need a shoulder to cry on or whatever… the four of us are here for you. I'm sure you'd feel better if you did." Another pause, and then one of them whispered something so quiet that even my enhanced sense couldn't pick it up.

"I'll be back tomorrow morning I guess, unless I get a bad vibe… don't let Ikuto near the stove or oven!" I immediately exited my character change at that point, and Utau zoomed passed the door without another word. After I heard her leave and the front door lock, I took a little extra time washing the dishes and putting them up before going back to the living room, where I found Amu sitting on the couch yet again, but this time her eyes were closed as she sat in an upward position. After grabbing a blanket from the hallway closet and contemplating about it, I decided try a little experiment. After coming up behind her, I relaxed my arms on the couch's back and rest my head in my palms, staring at her until she noticed I was there… which took a long time. Almost a minute, I'd say. But the wait allowed me to observe her a little more than I could have before. Her pajamas consisted of a simple red shirt that curled out a little on the bottom and on the edge of the sleeves, along with the matching pajama shorts that did the same. Her hair was loosely hanging from her shoulders, a few strands curling, probably from the lack of drying she'd given it. But her obliviousness made it all the more fun when she let out a little squeak after taking note of my attendance, sliding down toward the other side of the couch until she hit the opposite arm.

"Ikuto! God, you have too little of a presence…" She crossed her arms as a little shade of pink graced her cheeks, and she looked away stubbornly. "W-what do you want?"

Instead of answering her question, I merely continued staring at her, because for some reason I was curious to as of what she'd do. I was pleased with my many results.

At first, she tried holding her ground by continuing her gaze in the opposite direction, but eventually she got curious to see if I was still staring, and was startled to find that I was, then quickly turned back around after checking. But this time, she couldn't quite sit still, and was looking in every direction _other_ than mine; all the while her face became quite flushed. Very satisfying results. It was good to know I had the power to make her squirm simply by staring at her.

"Do you _need_ something?" She managed to finally say after a few grumbles. I smirked.

"Time for bed," I said very simply, throwing the blanket I'd gotten out of the closet at her. "You _could_ sleep in Utau's room, you know." I pointed out. She merely huffed, giving me a very tsundere attitude.

"I'm fine right here, thank you very much." She began unfolding the blanket, "And was all that really necessary to merely let me know that!?"

"If it wasn't, why else would I do it?" The only reply I got was a "pft" sound, so I continued. "Well, okay then… you can sleep down here tonight. Alone…"

"I will."

"In the dark…"

"…"

"With clear sight of an unfamiliar large window, and who-knows-what lurking outside…"

"Shut up and let me sleep!" She barked, pulling the blanket over her head before mumbling something that sounded like _'Now I can't stop looking out the windows…'_ Looks like my plan to get her to sleep in Utau's room failed, for now. It would be better for her to sleep on an actual mattress, but I was sure she'd come around eventually after she heard the sound of the freezer's ice maker in the kitchen making crunching noises. I continued smirking as I headed towards the stairs, wishing I could see her reaction, and turned out the living room light without another word.

* * *

**Alex's notes:**

Nothing much to say, accept I'm not finished with the 3rd part of this divided segment the story yet, so it'll be a awhile until I'm finished. Hopefully not too long of a time though. :)


	10. GTR Part III, What is a hug?

**Alex's notes:**

To be honest, I finished this chapter at the same time that I finished the last one back in November, and I remember having a good reason for not uploading it right away. However, after reading over it two days ago, I haven't been able to remember what that reason was… so I see no reason for holding it back any longer. *Shrug* I'll probably remember after I upload this, and then face-palm. Oh well, enjoy!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Shugo Chara! Peach-pit does.  


* * *

**_The Miracle Swap  
Chapter 10: Gripping true reality. Part III  
What is a hug?_

And so, I went to sleep with surprising ease. It was an odd sleep though, because despite the fact that the day's events had been depressing until the last few moments, I had a strangely pleasant, yet short dream about the T-mobile dance, which then slowly faded into black…

Don't ask.

I'd figured before I drifted off into sleep, however, that this was probably going to be the last good sleep I'd have for awhile. Tomorrow would be the start of: Operation - Keep Easter at Bay, as Orrick called it, and although I wasn't the type to lose sleep over worrying about things, this was different. Normally 'worrying things' would consist of… things that the _adults_ would had to deal with, not counting keeping my grades up, and although I'd try to share their worries, I had a habit of discarding them all during sleep. I guess you could say I was a very aloof type without much of a care, even in serious situations.

But this time, it involved something that had practically nothing to do with my family at all, yet was something that was more worrying than anything my family could come up with themselves. Guarding another person from an evil organization (when most people have no clue about their malicious doings, might I add) wasn't something we had to deal with before. Perhaps I wasn't losing sleep because it hadn't sunken in yet that I was now _technically_ the protector of Amu, especially since her Charas had been taken away and she was now completely defenseless, or I was probably just plain tired from the days events. Either way, I was curious to see what would occur tomorrow… well to be honest, _tomorrow_ sounded more interesting than the remainder of the day, because I had that Christmas concert event thing to go to. But interests are subject to change.

"_Hey… Hey, Ikuto…"_

Who would possibly dare wake me at this hour? It was practically midnight! MIDNIGHT. I was tired, and didn't feel like being bothered. Yet still, someone felt that it was necessary to poke my cheek. But, due to my drowsiness, I couldn't quite make out who was speaking.

"Shut up… go back to sleep…" I managed to mumble, struggling to speak with coherence. There was a short pause, and then another poke of the cheek.

"_Ikuto…?"_

"Stop touching me and let me sleep."

Another pause.

"_B-but, you're living room's so dark and creepy, and it's making weird noises… can't I stay in here for a bit?"_

I still hadn't opened my eyes, and was in the process of trying to go back to sleep, but I somehow found the will to raise my hand and wave the person away casually as I replied sleepily: "Sure… do whatever you want…"

"… _Really?"_

"Yes. Now shut up and let me sleep!" I barked grouchily, giving into a sudden temptation to turn away from the direction of the voice. Then there was finally silence, or at least for a moment until there was a soft _thump _noise near my desk, and then the bed creaked and there was a short movement, which I disregarded for the time being, numb with exhaustion. 'The time being,' being for about thirty seconds after I finally registered that someone bigger than Yoru or Orrick had taken refuge near me, and shortly after this realization I shot up to actually attempt to understand what was going on instead of brushing it off. To my surprise (Well okay, it didn't really surprise me, nothing could surprise me anymore after today) Amu sat next to me, leaning against the headboard of the bed, her arms wrapped comfortably around her legs as she stared at me with a bit of frustration.

"… What." I asked with an immense amount of annoyance in my tone. I wasn't the kind of person who _enjoyed_ being woken up at this hour… but she remained silent, pouting a bit more.

"_What?_" I asked again, a little louder this time. Her expression was a full fledged frown now, and she pointed to my room's door.

"Do you honestly expect me to sleep on the couch in such conditions?"

I blinked a few times, trying _really_ hard to understand what she was talking about. Conditions? My living room had _conditions_? Well, I wasn't aware, despite the fact that I had fallen asleep in it many times before.

"… What?" Wow, Ikuto. Don't you sound smart right now, repeating the same word three times in a row…

Amu sighed and closed her eyes as she rubbed the temples of her forehead, as if what she was saying was supposed to be painstakingly obvious… which it should have, since this was my house after all, but I still didn't get where she was going. "Look, I appreciate you letting me stay here and all, but if your house is haunted you're supposed to _tell_ the guest who's staying over so they can... brace themselves… " She trailed off for a minute as she stared back at the door, and then remained silent. I sighed, now fully awake.

"How is my house haunted?"

She looked back at me with a surprised expression "You haven't _ever_ heard that noise at night!? How do you sleep through it!?"

"What noise?"

"That crushing noise coming from the kitchen…"

I stared at her for a moment, taking in her stupidity. The moment she'd said 'crushing noise coming from the kitchen,' a light bulb went off in my head, and I remembered.

"The freezer."

"The freezer?"

"Crushing ice."

"Crushing… crushing ice!?"

"Yes, Amu. In this day and age, most freezers have their own ice-makers; it freezes the water from the dispenser and crushes it to make ice cubes." I spoke slowly, treating her as though she was an elementary student who couldn't understand this simple concept. She stared at me for a few moments, her golden eyes seeming to emit some sort of light even in the darkness of the room. She smiled at me, which caused a feeling of unease to come over me, for more reasons than one…

"I knew."

I blinked. "You knew…?"

"I knew that. I was just hoping the conversation would wake you up a bit." She grinned.

"I hope you have a good reason for waking me up," I said, raising an eyebrow but other than that remaining inexpressive.

"You and Utau have very cute baby pictures."

I narrowed my eyes slightly, contemplating on what she just said. Pictures…? "Wait, you went through our album? What, are you going through our stuff now?"

She frowned and looked the other way. "No! It's just that when I was trying to find out where that crushing sound was coming from, I stumbled upon it when I checked the closet. That's all!"

"Uh-huh…" I nodded as if I understood, but honestly didn't. "And this matters because…?"

"Well, no reason, really…" She murmured, refusing to look in my direction.

"You wouldn't have brought it up if it didn't mean anything."

"W-w-well, that may be true, but…" Amu shifted slightly, and then noticeably stiffened. Where was she getting at with all this babbling so late at night? "… I guess I was just… a little jealous of you…" She spoke so quietly, I could barely catch onto what she said.

"There's nothing to be jealous of. Every family has them, right?" I asked naively, not quite prepared for the response I was to receive.

"Ikuto, you take a lot of things for granted," She looked up with me; frown still intact and suddenly seemed serious. "No, every family does _not_ have a family album. You just assume that everything's quaint with the world all the time, but how much do you really know?" I listened to her words, but without thinking about them quickly replied –

"Huh, with such a self-righteous attitude it sounds like you're talking about yourself." I said solemnly, causing a look of sadness to sweep across her face.

"You're right. I _don't_ have any." She said flatly.

"Why?" I asked, sounding uninterested. Though, this seemed rather familiar.

She shrugged, "I burned them."

I stared at her for a minute, lack of expression still intact. But to be frank, I suddenly remembered that night at the party when I was speaking to Miki. She had mentioned something about Amu burning or cutting all the pictures that included her father… did she…

"Regret it?" I found myself saying that last part as I thought it, my curiously getting the better of me.

"O-of course not!" She suddenly shouted, eyes widening, "What am I saying – why would I be jealous of someone like _you_ anyways, the pictures needed to go! They were in the way – and besides you're -" She stopped when Lieu, who was normally a deep sleeper, hopped down from his scratching post and onto Amu's head after being awoken by her mini-rant. Amu in turn let out a shriek and began trying to pull the cat off her head. Instead of assisting her, I merely watched for awhile, as it was amusing watching my cat unintentionally feud with Amu. Once it got boring (well, not really boring. Just painful to watch) I snapped my fingers and Lieu bounced off her head, shaking in the process. Amus hands were still on her head after he had descended, she grumbled gibberish for a moment as she tried to get her hair back in order.

"Stupid." I mocked plainly.

"_You're_ stupid! Why didn't you tell me you had a cat!?"

"You should have noticed him last time you were here. Stupid."

"Rrrg!" She silenced herself in defeat, and I couldn't help but chuckle. It was nice seeing Amu back to normal. For now, that is. I couldn't help but wonder why she had suddenly snapped back to being her usual self. It was strange, because Ami was the whole world to Amu, and to suddenly see her in her normal stage of mania was bizarre. Had Utau said something to her that I hadn't noticed…?

Since I'd turned my head away for the time being as I thought, I noticed a yellow egg placed on my desk, unhatched and seeming dormant.

"At-uh-Ikuto…" I turned my head back in her direction. Now, her face was noticeably pink as she outstretched a hand towards me. I put on a confused expression, to which she quickly drew back and looked the opposite direction. Weird girl. Cute, but awfully weird.

"Y-y-you should… do that more often…"

"Less subtlety, please."

"You should, you know… laugh a little more. It makes you look less freakishly serious!"

"You sure do change topics a lot, you know that?" I quickly changed the subject, "What's with that egg over there?"

"Oh…" She stared at it for a moment before replying, furrowing her brow, annoyed. "Well, along with Ran Miki and Suu, I also have a yellow egg, but it never hatched. I didn't want to leave it alone at my mom's house, so I brought it with me…"

Realization suddenly struck me – so _that_ was Dia. The egg that never hatched because Amu's radiance was never strong enough, and represented her wish to sing or something like that… it was sad that I knew more about Amu than she did herself.

"But you know, I think I already know what it represents," she said, peaking my interest. "Maybe something to do with my love for music. Ever since I started working for Easter, the colored dulled, so I actually think it's gotten further away from hatching. I used to want to be a singer, but joining Easter stopped me in my tracks on that dream. But whenever I sang to Ami, it always brightened up for a bit…" she stopped at the mention of Ami, her cheeriness dropping. I decided to change the subject again, but only slightly this time.

"Reminds me of me, kinda."

"Don't be conceited."

"No, it really does," I leaned my back against the headboard of the bed, my hands behind my head as I stared at the ceiling. "When I was little, my uncle taught me everything I know today about instruments and how to play them."

"That sounds weird since your dad seems to hate instruments so much."

"I guess. But at the time, it was just me, my uncle, and Utau because our parents were off somewhere, so it wasn't all that weird. I really killed the fun of playing instruments for myself."

"I don't really wanna hear this story anymore," Amu suddenly said, flopping herself down on the bed and flipping on her side away from me.

"Wha- hey! Why is it that when _I'm_ talking, no one feels the need to listen!?" Silence followed my question, and then the sound of Amu's fake snoring. Feeling playful, I smacked her with a pillow, but she surprisingly didn't fight back. She just snatched the pillow and wrapped it around her head.

"Amuuuuu…"

"…"

"…Amu?"

"…"

"Hey," I tugged at the pillow she had firmly wrapped around her head, "Headquarters to Major Tom… come in Tom. Tom, do you read me?"

"Ikuto; just shut up."

"Four, three, two, one…"

"Ikuto!"

"Earth below us, drifting falling…"

"Rghh…" She curled into a ball and quieted down, refusing to speak after I mumbled a few more lines from that old _Major Tom_ song. I continued staring down at the girl who was so tightly curled up into a ball, suddenly having hushed. I didn't pay any mind to that last bit though, since I assumed she'd somehow fallen asleep. I was more focused on what Yoru had mentioned earlier.

Even someone level-headed could get confused then intrigued by simple matters, I was no exception. Though at the moment, I was more confused than anything, trying to separate my thoughts of Amu into organized categories of what I was feeling towards her. There was a lot to sort through, annoyance, friendship, protection, and then one Yoru had added today, 'love.' How I was beginning to _loath_ that word. Note that I don't mean the meaning of the word, just the word itself. I mean really, the word 'love' is so commonly used for everything, it felt like it had lost its special meanings from since when I was little. Now it just seemed to mean something like; "I love those shoes," or whatever. Wasn't there a better, more attractive word to use?

As I was going through these sorts of things in my storm of a mind, I suddenly realized I had unconsciously slipped a lock of pink hair between my fingers, and had been twirling it around as I thought, with my head resting on my other palm. I mentally slapped myself, not because twirling her hair was a bad thing, but because it might wake her up. But after thinking about it, I realized I didn't care, and resumed fidgeting with her hair as she seemed to sleep. I smile crept up on my features as I looked on at her position. She looked like a puppy trying to cover its ears with its paws, the pillow firmly wrapped around the front her head as she held it there, and I could picture her face rather scrunched in frustration, forcing her eyes shut. She really did have an irresistibly cute charm about her, and I was very impressed with my amount of self control. Orrick had really come in handy after all…

Deciding it was time to sleep, I gave the lock of hair one last _swoosh_ between my fingers before dropping it, and watching it fall upon her shoulder again. No sooner that I had done this, my peace and tranquility was interrupted by a noisy snuffling sound coming from beneath the pillow that was wrapped around Amus head. Tilting my head slightly in confusion, I waited until the sound emerged from the pillow a few more times before finally asking her what was wrong.

"…Nothing…" Came her distressed reply, just the short moment of her voice's emergence riddled with near-hysteria.

It was like a natural impulse, like a reflex, or maybe just an order from my constantly correct conscience when I reached out and gently took hold of her petite waist, pulling her in with one swift movement. I was taken aback from my action, surprised I had thought on impulse this time around rather than planning, and soon wondered if I had just jinxed myself about Orrick. I silenced that thought in my mind and refocused on Amu, who had suddenly burst into a wiggling frenzy.

"W-w-w-what are you d-doing, Ikuto!?" She squeaked, any previous feelings of sorrow seeming to have vanished from her qualities as she tried to wriggle her way out of my grasp, but of course, she could not, and knowing her she would just give in eventually.

"This is a hug. Have you not experienced one before?"

"NO! I –"

"Oh, you haven't?" I interrupted her, a smirk quickly moving across my face, "Allow me to educate you on the matter then," I murmured, my breath rolling over her shoulder as I gave her a playful squeeze. She growled, slightly deterred from her squirming. With my arms clasped firmly around her stomach, I felt her heartbeat increase, while I, on the other hand, stayed cool and collected.

"Better now?" I asked her after she'd finally stopped trying to escape her inevitable fate and had forced herself to relax. She merely made a short scoff of protest, making me rather irritable. Here I was trying to help _her_, and she was giving me such a cold shoulder, unveiling of her thoughts.

"Amu… say something. Please?" I whispered, entertained by her shuddering as a reaction. She remained quiet for another moment before finally speaking.

"Hey, Ikuto…" she began, her voice a little more stable than before.

"Mmm?"

She suddenly flipped over to face me, revealing a slightly puffy-eyed girl with a serious expression. "Do I annoy you?"

I raised an eyebrow, "No, what gave you that idea?"

She averted her gaze from me slightly, "I'm just making sure…"

Silence fell between us until I braved to ask the question that had been burning in my head for the past few minutes, "What's this really about, Amu?" I wanted her to be more honest. Not only with herself, but with me, too. If that meant I had to step over a few lines that had once been prohibited, then so be it. Instead of replying, she tucked her head into my chest and remained silent. So did I. I had all night, and would wait.

"Ikuto… I worked so hard so make it up to Ami for not being a good sister, but… I failed anyway, and was so caught up in it all that I wasn't even able to tell the difference between the real Ami and a substitute. I wasn't able to make it up to her…"

"What could you have done? It's not like you were aware of the reason Ami and your dad left. Stop blaming yourself."

"But it _is_ my fault! If I hadn't been such a jealous mess before, this wouldn't have happened!"

"So you're saying you're the reason why things have turned out the way they have?"

She was quiet after that, and I continued. "Amu… just shut up. The only thing you've ever done wrong was blaming yourself for anything." I heard her take a deep inhale, and then she exhaled deeply. She remained still for a few moments, silent, probably still taking in what I've just said. I wondered if I'd calmed her down now… and then wasn't quite sure if the sound of her beginning to sniffle again was a 'yes' or 'no' to my question. Either way, I saw it as progress. I didn't mind that she was wetting my shirt with her tears, or that she was hugging me so tightly that I could barely breathe. For the moment, I only cared about Amu, and nothing else.

* * *

**Alex's notes:**

Hmm, I would have written more, but this seemed like the best note to end it at. I found this chapter sweet, did you?

To be honest, I had fallen out of love with not only Amuto, but S.C itself for awhile back in November, and just couldn't write about it after writing this chapter. :c I think it happened around the time S.C Party came about, the whole concept of everything that was going on in both manga and anime bored me, and when I'm bored with something… ugh. So, I'm only just getting back into the groove of things S.C-related now that it's completed.

I'm not sure how often I'll update this particular story, since I have around four new ideas for other story's running through my head that I kinda want to try out, two of which are also Shugo Chara. Most of them I've _kinda sorta_ already started on, but there's no outline on them, and when I have no outline I get afraid that I won't be able to finish it because I don't know where I'm going. So, I think I'll start working on those...

Anyway, I just finished the biggest project of the school year in my English AP class, so I feel a bit freer. We'll see what happens!  
Also_**, please review**_, and give me your opinions! I noticed so many people favoriting and author-alerting like there was no tomorrow, yet not as many reviews. u_u Don't get me wrong, those things make me happy, but most of my fellow FF-Authors know that nothing beats a review, right? ;D

Later!


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